Presidency defends Buhari’s manner of appointment

Presidency has dismissed insinuations that President Mohammadu Buhari is implementing a northern agenda in his political appointments.

It will be recalled that president Buahri since taking over the reins of power on May 29 has made at least 9 different appointments, the latest being the Director-General of the State Services, DSS, Lawal Daura, Katsina State.

But the appointments were seen by many Nigerians to be lopsided, favoring the north. Only one of the appointments came from the south west.

The details are as follows: Acting Chairman, the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mrs. Amina Bala Zakari, Jigawa State; Director, the Department of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Mordecai Danteni Baba Ladan; and the Accountant-General of the Federation, Alhaji Ahmed Idris, Kano State.

Others are the State House Chief of Protocol, Mallam Lawal Abdullahi Kazaure; Aide De Camp, Lt.-Col. Muhammed Lawal Abubakar, Kano State; Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, north west; and Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, South-West.

In addition to the appointments were also the elections of Dr. Bukola Saraki from Kwara State, North central and Barr. Yakubu Dogara from Bauchi State, north east as senate president and Speaker, House of Representatives.

But speaking to Vanguard in Abuja on Sunday, the Special Adviser to the president on Media and Publicity who is incidentally the only southerner in the appointments, Mr. Femi Adesina refuted the claims that Buhari was acting a northern script against the rest of the zones in the country.

According to him, the president received a national mandate and was going to pursue it as such.

“The president does not have a northern agenda. He has a national agenda. He got a national mandate and that is the way he is going to exercise that mandate. I have already said it and I still maintain that”, he said.

Vanguard