Presidency Reacts To Buhari’s Appointment Of ‘The Dead’ As Board Members

The Presidency has reacted to controversies generated from the recent appointment of board members into agencies and parastatals.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday appointed 209 chairmen and 1258 members as governing boards of agencies and parastatals.

However, it was gathered from the list that names of some dead persons were found among the appointees.

Late Senator Francis Okpozo, was appointed as chairman of the Board of the Nigerian Press Council, while another dead man Rev. Father Chris Utov as board member, Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research.

Also, DIG Donald Ugbaja, who died in November, 2017, was named as a member of the Consumer Protection Council.

Reacting on Saturday, Presidency spokesman, Garba Shehu said there was nothing scandalous about the list.

He explained that the names where compiled by the national secretariat of the APC and forwarded to the then secretary to the government of the federation, Babachir Lawal.

According to him, the errors identified on the list were not enough to describe it as scandalous.

“The list has a history which explains the controversy around it,” Shehu told the Premium Times.

“In 2015, Mr. President requested all state chapters of the party to submit names of 50 party members for board appointments.

“However, complaint arose from some governors who felt they were not carried along in the process. To answer this, the president constituted a committee under the vice president to review and reflect the interest of the governors.

“The president’s trips for medical attention slowed down completion of the process,” he said, adding that until recently Mr Buhari decided to revisit the matter.

“The current SGF was only directed to complete that process by releasing the list which he apparently did without altering it,” Mr. Shehu added.