The South West caucus of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari over what they called imbalance and unfair appointments into some top government agencies.
Specifically, the caucus in APC singled out the recent appointment into the executive management of the Nigerian Ports Authourity (NPA).
President Buhari recently appointed Ms Hadiza Bala Usman as the managing director and Mohammed Bello-Koko as Executive Director, Finance; Prof. Idris Abubakar, Executive Director Engineering; Dr Sekonte Davies as Executive Director, Marine Operations.
Shipping Position Daily confirmed authoritatively last week that the caucus pointedly queried why out of the four executive management slots, three went to the North West, one to the South South, while none went to either of the remaining two geo-political zones in the South, namely: South West and South East.
A source who is privy to the meetings and the decision to register the region’s displeasure told one of our correspondents that the West sees the ports located in Lagos as being central to the economy of the nation; hence it should be considered for a slot in the choice of executive directors of NPA.
Confirming the petition, a senior member of the party from the old Alimosho local Government area of Lagos state told our correspondent that, the party in the South West isn’t happy with manner the appointments in NPA were made by the Minister of Transportation; Mr Rotimi Amaechi.
“Yes, we met unofficially to review some developments in the nation and how they affect us (South West), some of those who were at the meeting called attention to some of these issues, the issue of NPA came up, and we observed that the South West that hosts all key maritime institutions should not be left out”.
“Amaechi (minister of transportation) misinformed President Buhari, he got for himself someone from the Rivers State and another of them who is very close to him as Executive Director Finance , without recourse to the feelings of other parts of the country”
“How can three of four positions go to the North West, it is unfair”, they don’t even have the experience, he lamented.
Another source in the Office of Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) who craved anonymity said, while it is true that some persons have asked questions about some appointments, it should be borne in mind that the President can appoint whoever he so wishes.
He however confirmed seeing “something like that (petition), at the Presidency”. He also hinted that there had been unofficial presentations and visits from the South West to the Presidency in recent weeks.
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