The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has dismissed insinuations that appointments being made by President Muhammadu Buhari are tribal, saying the fact that four of the five ministers from the Southeast hold senior ministerial positions had proven otherwise.
Speaking as the guest of honour at The Greater Nigeria Pastors Conference in Lagos yesterday, Osinbajo said many of those accusing the president of tribalism were ignorant of the current composition of the Federal Executive Council and heads of federal boards and parastatals.
“While it is very convenient for some people to shout imbalance anytime a set of appointments is released, the question is how many have actually taken time to understand what is in place? I monitor the ministerial list and I can say that four out of the five ministers from the Southeast geopolitical zone are senior ministers.
“Whereas people from Sokoto, Yobe, Kaduna, Katsina, Kogi, among others who voted massively for the APC have been asking the president what their sin could be to have warranted not been considered for senior ministerial positions, the president has had to tell them that even his home state of Katsina does not have a senior ministerial position,” Osinbajo said.
He said there was a time when there was no single northerner within the nation’s security set up. On appointments to federal boards of agencies and parastatals, Osinbajo said: “When I did an analysis of heads of agencies and parastatals, I discovered that Ogun State with 21 has the highest number of chief executive officers, followed by Kano and Imo which are at par, then Edo State and Anambra, among others”.
Prof. Osinbajo however said time had come for Nigerians to de-emphasize quota system at the expense of merit. He said somebody like the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, had demonstrated competence and that he as a vice president would rather be interested in what he can deliver and not where he comes from.
He dismissed the allegation that the president is planning to Islamise the country, and called for collective efforts to confront the perennial clashes between herders and farmers. The convener, Rev. Abayomi Kasali, said the gathering was to deepen conversation on the future of Nigeria.
