Buhari’s Appointments Not Skewed Against South – Presidency

The Presidency has described claims, suggestions and insinuations that President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointments are tilted in favour of a section of Nigeria as simply untrue and certainly uncharitable.

Presidential spokesman Mr Femi Adesina, in a statement Saturday, faulted an October 29 publication of a business newspaper that 81 of Buhari’s 100 appointees are northerners, saying the article was either an ignorant effort or a mischievous attempt to mislead the public and portray Buhari’s administration in bad light.

Adesina said the publication’s inconsistencies and selective reportage were questionable as the article was divisive with its many misleading statements that should be taken with a pinch of salt.

He said what Nigerians needed now were unity and constructive dialogue that would help the nation march forward on the right path, not divisive and misleading reportage.

Adesina, who posited that it was false for anyone to say Buhari’s appointments were lopsided, said records showed that majority of the president’s appointees across different portfolios were not from the north, as the publication alleged.

The presidential spokesman said if the publication did not have ulterior motives, a simple enquiry from official sources in the Presidency would have prevented “this unwarranted public disinformation.”

Adesina stated that despite the distractions and biased reportage of the publication article, the president remained committed to serving all Nigerians, no matter the tribe, ethnicity or region.

He also said Buhari was determined to ensure that Nigeria remains strong and united, adding that the president “has, and will continue to keep faith with one Nigeria and has shown this with the administration’s diverse projects in different parts of the country’s geopolitical zones.”

Adesina, who said the writer of the article unilaterally selected 100 appointees to drive home the distraction presented as facts, released a graph showing the breakdown of current federal agency appointments per state “reflecting the true picture of the spread.”