No big deal about 'controversial' list of board appointments- Presidency

Garba Shehu

The presidency has said there was no big deal about the controversy being generated by the inclusion of dead persons' names on the list of appointees into the boards of agencies and parastatals.

The federal government had on Friday evening, announced the appointment of 1,468 Nigerians into the boards.

But checks revealed duplication names, inclusion of names of dead persons and individuals who are no longer in the ruling All Progressives Congress.

The Presidency however downplayed the matter Saturday as, according to a spokesman of the president, there was nothing scandalous about the list.

The spokesman of the President Garba Shehu, told PREMIUM TIMES by telephone that “the list has a history” which explains the controversy around it.

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

He said 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.

“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”.

Mr Shehu however said action was delayed on the report of the committee headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as President Muhammadu Buhari took ill.

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

While admitting that errors were committed, he added that “no human undertaking can be free of mistakes”.

He said the errors identified with the list were not enough to describe the exercise as scandalous, adding that all errors in the list would be corrected.