John Alechenu
Abuja: A former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, has hailed President Bola Tinubu’s fresh appointments to the boards of federal agencies.
Ndume said the fresh appointments, which included Mohammed, the son of former military President Ibrahim Babangida, were a testament to Tinubu’s determination to strengthen institutions and leave behind a legacy of transformative leadership.
Muhammad Babangida was named chairman of the Bank of Agriculture.
The former Senator who represents Borno South in the Senate spoke via a statement in Abuja on Saturday.
Other appointments made by President Tinubu yesterday included: Lydia Kalat Musa, Chairperson of the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority; Jamilu Wada Aliyu, chairman of the National Educational Research and Development Council; Yahuza Ado Inuwa, to chair the Standards Organisation of Nigeria and Sanusi Musa (SAN) named chairman of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution.
The list equally included: Professor Al-Mustapha Aliyu as Director-General of the Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa; Sanusi Garba Rikiji as Director-General of the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations, and Abdulmumin I Aminu-Zaria as new Executive Director of the Integrated Water Resources Management Commission.
A close scrutiny of the list revealed that apart from the younger Babangida, who hails from Niger state in the North central region, both Kano and Kaduna had three and two appointees, respectively.
Sokoto and Zamfara in the North West have a slot each while Oyo State produced Tomi Somefun as the Managing General of the National Hydro-Electric Power Areas Development Commission.
Recall that President Tinubu had last May appointed 12 individuals from Northern states into significant positions in federal agencies.
While commending the president for his actions, Ndume said, “These appointments and the one he did last May, when he gave 12 key agencies to competent individuals from the North, were assuring enough.
“It goes to show that he is a responsive leader who listens to criticisms and surrenders to genuine and legitimate agitation.
“These two appointments will reassure the North, particularly its elders, that President Tinubu isn’t a leader who will deliberately promote an agenda to alienate the region which stood with him during the last general election.”
The federal lawmaker, however, appealed to President Tinubu to consider the southeast in his next set of appointments.
He said, ” The wrong narrative that the south east has been abandoned and would not count in patronage distribution should not be allowed to fester for long.
“It is even a breach of the Federal Character Principle, as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, to strip an entire region of adequate representation.
“This is a big mistake that must be corrected. Every part of the country deserves a sense of belonging in a federation.”
“While I acknowledge Mr. President’s steadfastness with these appointments, we are hopeful that subsequent nominations will reflect broader national inclusiveness, by accommodating more individuals from the Southeast.”
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