Outrage in APC as Buhari Appoints More Northerners

There are rumblings in the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC over President Muhammadu Buhari's latest appointments.

Sources within the party who spoke to The Punch complained that once again, the appointments were skewed in favor of the North, adding that something must be done fast to avoid a backlash from the other parts of the country.

“The President does not consult before making most of these appointments and I can tell you that Nigerians are going to term the party and the President as a northern party and the President of Northern Nigeria,” one of the sources said.

In the latest appointments announced on Thursday, President Buhari approved
Babachir David Lawal from Adamawa State as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Mr. Abba Kyari from Borno state as his Chief of Staff.

Other appointments approved by the President, according to the statement by Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adeshina are those of Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (retd.) as the new Comptroller-General, Nigerian Customs Service; Mr. Kure Martin Abeshi, Comptroller-General, Nigerian Immigration Service; Senator Ita Enang, Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (Senate); and Suleiman Kawu as SSA on National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives).

With the exception of Senator Ita Enang from the South South, all the appointees are from the North.

Of the nine previous appointments made by Buhari, eight were from the North. Dissenting voices in APC worry that President Buhari is fast presenting himself as the President of Northern Nigeria and the APC as a northern party.