Governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have kicked against the list
of 46 non-career ambassadorial nominees which President Muhammadu Buhari sent to the Senate last week for confirmation.
The governors are irked that the Presidency did not consult them in the nomination of the proposed envoys.
The governors took their grievances to the State House, Abuja, where they told President Buhari that the nominees were
unacceptable to them because the
Presidency did not consult them in the
exercise.
At an emergency meeting with the
President, the governors, who were said to
be very blunt, reportedly accused Buhari of
bypassing them in nominating the would-be
ambassadors.
So far, the President has sent two lists of 93
career and non-career envoys to the Upper
House. The first batch of 47 ambassadors
has been cleared by the Senate, but the
Presidency is yet to post them to the coun
try’s missions abroad.
The second batch of non-career
ambassadors was unveiled by the Senate
President Bukola Saraki on Thursday last
week. He read Buhari’s letter seeking the
Upper Chamber’s confirmation of the
nominees.
The President’s action was greeted with
criticisms by lawmakers whose states were
not represented in the list.
Before the governors took their protest to
Aso Rock on Monday, there were allegations
that two members of Buhari’s kitchen
cabinet solely compiled the list of the non-
career ambassadors.
Amid the protest against the list, two
nominees, Dr Usman Bugaje (Katsina State)
and Mrs. Pauline Tallen (Plateau State) have
turned down their nominations.
Dr Bugaje, who hails from the same state as
Buhari, gave no reasons for rejecting his
ambassadorial nomination.
But Mrs Tallen, a former deputy governor of
Plateau State, said she could not serve in
that capacity because she needs time to
take care of her ailing husband.
Emerging from the meeting with the
President, Plateau State Governor, Simon
Lalong, told journalists that Buhari did not
consult enough and violated the zoning
arrangement for appointments in the states.
Lalong said this was why the governors
complained to the President, who has
promised to look into their grievances.
According to Lalong, “Part of the issues that
we raised was on some of the appointments
that were made. All the states that had
complaints are going to put them in writing
and the President promised to look into
them.”
Describing Tallen as an astute politician
from Plateau State, Lalong explained that
her rejection of the ambassadorial
nomination “is not only about her husband;
I think it is the dimension of Plateau politics
because I had already made complaints to
Mr. President that appointments should not
be concentrated in one zone.
“All these appointments came again from
one zone. So, the complaints that are
coming from our state are not about her
personal interest; it is the fact that two
ambassadorial appointments are coming
from the same zone that we had
complained, that is my zone.
“We had complained that the next
appointment should go to the other zones –
the Central or the Northern zone. So, when
that appointment came, the kind of uproar
that followed also necessitated an
intervention.
“And I think as a matured politician, she
stepped down and sacrificed that for the
people of Plateau. We are still working on a
replacement for that.
“It is not a big issue but at times, a little
consultation would have solved that
problem because these are issues in the
interests of the state. So, you can’t have
two appointments, very key appointments
like that coming from a particular zone that
is already overloaded with appointments.
“All the federal appointments are from the
southern zone, and it would not be fair. So,
it is the issue of fairness that we are
approaching Mr. President to consider and
appoint people from those areas that do not
have representation,” he said.
Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas
Okorocha, also told State House
correspondents that the governors used the
opportunity to discuss with Buhari other
issues as they affect the country’s
development.
He said: “We came particularly to encourage
him (Buhari) and congratulate him on the re
lease of the 21 Chibok Girls and we say that
whatever action was taken to bring back
these girls, let it be repeated so that the
rest of the girls can be freed.
“Again, we came to report to Mr. President
that his agriculture policy is producing
results. This time around, we have bumper
harvests in most parts of the country in rice
production and others. So, that policy
should be sustained.
“And the funding policy by CBN – the
Anchor Borrowers Scheme – should be
encouraged because it is yielding results. In
the next couple of years, Nigeria will be self-
sufficient in food production.
“We also encouraged him on the fight
against corruption; that he should continue
with it. We know that in the pursuit of good
programmes, certain lapses will be noticed
and there is nothing wrong in pursuing a
good cause.
“We also looked at the issue of Ondo State
governorship election and said we are
happy that we have delivered the first state
under his administration which is Edo State;
but in Ondo, the governors have decided to
show support for it so that APC will take over
the government of Ondo State.”
Okorocha added that the meeting, however,
did not discuss the issue of Buhari’s anti-
corruption onslaught on the Judiciary.
On the crisis rocking the APC as a result of
the Ondo governorship primary, Okorocha
said that it would be resolved before
election as “these were some of the things
we discussed.”
He also spoke on the call on the APC’s
National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-
Oyegun, to resign.
Okorocha said: “We are not talking about
anybody resigning. We are talking about
rebuilding the party to make it stronger,
right from the ward level to the national
level”.
On the prevailing hardship in the country,
Okorocha said although it was not caused
by the APC, the party must take re
sponsibility for it while working to make
things better for the citizens.
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