Aguolu Michael Okechukwu
The South-west All Progressives Congress (APC) Support Groups have expressed dismay over the current situation whereby most appointments made by President Bola Tinubu are being filled with those they described as ‘Lagos boys’.
In a statement issued yesterday, which was jointly signed by the Coordinator of the APC groups, Dele Fulani, and the Secretary, Lanre Asiwaju, the groups said they were constrained to note that this trend, if not checked, might make the South-west the first boiling point of Tinubu-led administration.
The groups in a letter addressed to President Tinubu, noted that a situation whereby politicians from Lagos State are seen to be the ones taking all the benefits that accrue to the entire South-west was totally unacceptable to other states in the geopolitical zone, saying Lagos is not the only state in South-west.The groups stressed that a cursory look at the appointments made so far under Tinubu’s administration showed that majority of the people around him are all Lagos politicians.
The support groups said while they might not all be indigenes of Lagos, they are politicians based in Lagos, who have played all their politics in Lagos, lived in Lagos, and as a matter of fact, made Lagos their immediate constituency.
They stated: “We have observed, with utmost dismay, the ongoing unpleasant development at the presidency whereby most appointments are being filled with ‘Lagos boys’.
“We the South-west APC Support groups are constrained to say that this trend, if not checked, might make the South-west the first boiling point of the Tinubu administration.
“Looking at the appointments of 20 aides that were recently made by Mr. President, we can categorically pinpoint 13 of them who are Lagos-based politicians. Also, the arrival of former Lagos Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode into the fray as one of the appointment hopefuls is another fact in this direction.”The support groups pointed out that during Tinubu’s first trip to France as President, the entourage that accompanied him on that journey were predominantly those from Lagos State, despite the fact that most of them are without official portfolio or capacity.
They added: “This is uncalled for; this administration should not be made an all-Lagos affair as it will completely go against the campaign promises of national inclusion. Truly, this trend does not project Mr. President as a nationalist and a pan-Nigerian leader.”The support emphasised that the president recently constituted a committee that would constitute boards of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), ironically the Chief of Staff, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, was made the chairman while the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume was made the Secretary.
The groups added that this was wrong, going by hierarchy and order of protocol, adding that Akume’s position supersedes that of Chief of Staff, stressing that Akume and not Gbajabiamila should be made the Chairman.They said: “We advocate that for posterity and adherence to the established thematic of bureaucracy in governance, Your Excellency should reverse the appointment and make the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) the chairman of the committee and a representative of the party (APC) as the secretary.
“Appointing the Chief of Staff as chairman of that committee is to further take care of ‘Lagos Boys’; if care is not taken, we will end up having a ‘Lagos Boys’- dominated administration at the expense of others, which will not be a break away from the norm in the last administration, where people from a particular state were given more preference at the detriment of others who were far more deserving.
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