appointments chaired by Secretary to Government
of the Federation, Babachir David Lawal, has
submitted its report to President Muhammadu
Buhari, Daily Trust learnt yesterday.
A member of the committee, who spoke in
confidence, said: “We did what we were assigned
to do and you should know that it is at the
discretion of the Mr. President to act on it.
“Ours is to collate names from all the states in the
federation, looked at the credentials of the
nominees and then advise the president on where
they should be placed.” A government official, who
did not want his name in print as he was not
authorised to speak on the matter, blamed the
current economic recession in the country,
security clearance and federal character balancing
as some of the reasons for the delay in constituting
the boards.

Our source said a number of recommendations
were said to have been turned down by the
Presidency, which is presently considering
complaints from top APC chieftains, traditional
rulers and groups across the country.
He said: “We know the committee had concluded
their job, but many personalities, including
traditional rulers especially from the North, were
still meeting Presidency officials apart from
petitions across the country.
“If not for the decisiveness of President
Muhammadu Buhari the knotty issue of the
NIPOST Postmaster General would still not have
been resolved.”
On why President Buhari has not applied same
decisiveness in the other appointments, the official
said the many interests and conflicts had to be
resolved to avoid embarrassment and division.
The delay has led to grumblings within the ruling
party across the country. Supporters and chieftains
of the APC, who worked for the success of the
party during the 2015 general elections, said they
had laboured in ‘vain’, having wrestled power from
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“We deserve to be compensated after sweating to
install this government but here we are,
completely left not only in the dark but suffering in
excruciating poverty,” said a chieftain of the APC in
Bauchi state.

“The normal tradition is that immediately after
winning election, either at the state or national
level; those who worked for its success are
considered for membership of boards. This is what
the PDP did in its 16 years at the helm of affairs but
the APC... it is something else,” he said.
Another member of the APC from Kano, Yunus
Aliyu, accused party leaders at the state and
national levels of not doing enough to compensate
members.
“Our leaders at all levels are weak, it seems they
don’t have the guts to tell the president of the
dangers in leaving the APC faithful redundant,” he
said.

It was gathered that there are over 500 federal
government agencies whose boards have not been
constituted.
In many of them, those at the helm of affairs were
appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan
as compensation for PDP members.
Buhari in October last year empanelled an eight-
member committee, mostly drawn from the ruling
APC to compile names of prospective appointees
into federal government boards of parastatals and
agencies.
The committee chaired by the SGF had Alhaji Mai
Mala Buni (North-East Zone), Alhaji Zakari Ede
(North-Central), Alhaji Inuwa Abdulkadir (North-
West), Chief Hillard Etagbo Eta (South-South), Chief
Pius Akinyelure (South-West), Chief Emmanuel
Eneukwe (South-East) as members while Mr.
Gideon Sammani, a Senior Special Assistant to the
President was Secretary.
The boards were initially to be announced in
January but when the list was submitted to Buhari,
he returned it to the committee on the grounds
that most of the nominees “have skeleton in their
cupboards.”

Chairmen of the APC in some states said they were
under intense pressure from members over
“compensation for a job well done” that
culminated in the ouster of the PDP.
Some APC members said they were running out of
patience and asked President Buhari to
compensate them before it is late.
A former Youth Director of Masari Restoration
project in Katsina State, Mustapha Radda said
most of those who worked tirelessly for the victory
of the party had been neglected.
He said Katsina state Governor Aminu Masari has
failed to secure state or federal appointments for
some of the party’s loyalists saying people who had
done nothing were given. “We have resolved to
move out or embark on massive sensitization of
voting for personality not party,” he said.
Stalwarts of the APC in Cross River State said they
had been sidelined at the centre after working for
the party.
A member of the party in the northern senatorial
district of the state, Norberth James said their
patience was running out because the few
appointments made by President Buhari did not
favour them.
In Adamawa State, APC members have called on
President Muhammad Buhari to hasten the
appointment of loyal party members.
Some of the members, who spoke to Daily Trust in
Yola, argued that those who worked for the victory
of the party at the polls deserved the opportunity
to serve the federal government.


A party loyalist, Muhammad Bello wondered why
the President had not rewarded hundreds of party
loyalists, who sacrificed a lot to get him elected.
Another chieftain, Dahiru Hammandikko
emphasised the need for the party to identify
qualified party members for appointment into
federal positions.
He added that people who made immense
contribution in uplifting the APC to victory ought to
be rewarded.
When asked for comment, the Director Press,
Office of the SGF, Bolaji Adebiyi said the SGF was
not responsible for the appointments, pointing out
such appointments were the prerogative of the
President.
He however said that government would always act
in the best interest of the nation.
The SGF Babachir David Lawal had denied a report
that he was receiving kickbacks from candidates
seeking board appointments.
Daily Trust reports that President Buhari recently
approved board members for Nigeria National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Niger Delta
Development Commission (NDDC), Nigerian
Maritime Administration and Safety Agency
(NIMASA), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), but the
boards are yet to be inaugurated.