Appointments: Presidency Apologizes, Says Former SGF Babachir Compiled The List
…Insist its not scandalous
The Buhari presidency has acknowledged and apologised for the errors made in listing the dead among chairmen and members of boards of government agencies and parastatals.
The President’s spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu admitted the errors and said “no human undertaking can be free of mistakes”.
He said the errors identified with the list were not enough to describe the exercise as scandalous, insisting that “there is no scandal”.
The President’s spokesman explained that the names of dead appointees in the list came about because the list had been compiled by the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Babachir David Lawal. Garba Shehu said “the list has a history” which explained the controversy around it.
He said, “In 2015, Mr. President requested all state chapters of the party to submit names of 50 party members for board appointments,” Shehu said.
He said the names where compiled by the national secretariat of the APC and forwarded to the then secretary to the government of the federation, Babachir Lawal.
“However, complaint arose from some governors who felt they were not carried along in the process. To answer this, the president constituted a committee under the vice president to review and reflect the interest of the governors”.
Shehu said action was delayed on the report of the committee headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as President Muhammadu Buhari took ill.
“The president’s trips for medical attention slowed down completion of the process.
“The current SGF was only directed to complete that process by releasing the list which he apparently did without altering it,” Mallam Shehu explained.
More than three names of dead persons were contained in the list. Among them are Chief Donald Ugbaja who was appointed as a Member of the Consumer Protection Council (CPC). Chief Ugbaja, a former DIG of the Nigerian Police, died on November 29, 2017. Another person, Senator Francis Okpozo, was appointed as Chairman of the Nigerian Press Council. But Okpozo, a Senator in the Second Republic, died on December 16, 2016.
