A federal lawmaker, who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the Eighth National Assembly, Shehu Sani, has urged President Bola Tinubu to prioritise competence in his appointments.
Sani, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, cautioned the President not to make the mistake of his immediate predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari.
The former lawmaker said during Buhari’s eight-year administration between May 2015 and May 2023, nepotism was at its peak yet results were not produced in all areas of governance, majorly security, economy, education and healthcare.
Sani said, “I will advise President Tinubu to be careful not to make the mistakes of President Buhari, and I believe he is experienced to understand this.
“Under Presdient Buhari, you have ministers that were appointed into office for the whole of eight years; they were with him for the first tenure and the second tenure, and there was no cabinet reshuffle, no removal. Even if there was a removal, it takes three to four months to replace a minister. That was the way the country was governed.
“Under Buhari, we have seen nepotism at its peak where people were appointed into office and left there even if they did nothing.
“Service chiefs were retained in office despite their failures, and by retaining them, you destroyed the careers of those behind them. For many years, many officers were retired to appoint one person.”
He said if Tinubu is interested in results, competence should be his watchword.
“If this country has to move forward, we must treat the issue of competency as the qualification for appointment,” he said.
Some appointments of Tinubu, ex-Lagos governor, have been criticised as lopsided in the last couple of months. Tinubu, who took over from Buhari, a prominent northern figure and former military head of state, on May 29, 2023, appointed 48 ministers last August. One of the ministers resigned and joined the Senate last December while another was suspended in January.
‘Banditry Worsening Despite Northerners As Service Chiefs’
Sani further said the situation in northern Nigeria is a reflection of the failure of political leaders, especially those from the region who failed to use political power to reduce the level of underdevelopment in the 19 states of the region.
“What has all these powers been used for? It has not been used for the benefit of our people for a very long time,” the ex-lawmaker stated.
He condemned the recent suicide bombings in Borno State, in the North-East geopolitical zone of the country, saying it was a continuation of the handiwork of Boko Haram insurgents and “a message that we should be vigilant and not complacent”.
He said despite that most service chiefs in the last decade have been from the north, terrorism, banditry, illegal mining and kidnapping-for-ransom remain ubiquitous in the region.
“The expectation by many people was that when there is an opportunity to have someone take over the reins of leadership that comes from our own part of the country and understands our problem, that the problem would be solved.
“At a certain time in the history of this country, all the security apparatus, from the Army, the Navy, the police, the Air Force, the Civil Defence, even paramilitary institutions like Customs, Immigration, the Prison Service, even the DSS (Department of State Services) were all manned by northerners but what has come out of that? The situation is that it has become worse,” he said.
Sani said northern politicians desperate for power should do some soul-searching and have precise developmental agenda to pursue when they assume office.
“The north, our people needs to do soul-searching. If you want power, you should have an agenda, you should have policies; you should know problems and solutions to problems,” he said.
