APC Leaders In Serious Battle Over Appointments In Abuja

A crisis is said to be brewing in the All Progressives Congress over appointments into boards of some federal agencies and parastatals.

The dispute over appointments was partly responsible for the delay in the reconstitution of themboards. At the core of the dispute is a disagreement over names forwarded for consideration for appointments.

It was learnt that a committee set up by President Muhammadu Buhari to reconstitute the boards had been unable to conclude its assignment due in part to this dispute...

According to PUNCH, the battle had also pitted some party leaders at the state level and some ministers in the President Buhari’s cabinet.

Buhari had on July 16, 2015 approved the dissolution of the governing boards of the federal parastatals and agencies and institutions.

To fill the vacancies created by the dissolution, the President inaugurated the Presidential Committee on the Reconstitution of Governing Boards of Parastatals, Agencies and Commissions, last October.

The committee, which has party leaders drawn from the six geo-political zones, is chaired by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal.

It was further learnt that the Presidential Committee had agreed with the party leadership that each of the 36 state chapters should submit the names of 50 persons to be appointed.

PUNCH findings further revealed that in response some states had two separate lists as party leaders jostled to outdo one another to position their acolytes for favourable consideration.

This led to accusations and counter-accusations of favouritism against state party chairmen, governors as well as some leaders of the party.

A leading member of the party who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution said:
"The situation almost got out of hand. In the South-East for instance, apart from Ebonyi State, most of the other states are in crisis over this matter.

“We also had a situation where states like Lagos had two separate lists. There were also allegations that some of the state chairmen nominated their wives and cronies to the exclusion of people who really laboured for the party.

“As a party of change, we want things done differently some of those who were aggrieved used the back channels to make their feelings known and reach out to the President.”

President Buhari was said to have intervened into the matter by asking the party leadership to liaise with the SGF to look into the issues raised with a view to finding an amicable solution.

Prominent among states where such disputes exist include Enugu, Imo, Abia and Kaduna.

When contacted, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said there all issues will be trashed and resolved in the interest of all

"You cannot talk of a delay when the committee was not given a deadline. Work is ongoing," he said.