EXCLUSIVE: Tinubu Moves To Sack Buhari’s Last-minute Appointees
Indications have emerged that President Bola Tinubu may nullify more of the last-minute appointments made by former President Muhammadu Buhari before he left office.
Sources familiar with the matter told our correspondent that plans were underway to replace some of the appointees appointed by the previous administration.
Though the newspaper could not get the total number of appointments to be nullified, the highly placed source noted that the move might affect the last-minute appointments by Buhari’s ministers and heads of agencies.
Before Buhari handed over to the incumbent President, it was reported how the Buhari administration, towards its end, continued to approve appointments even until the morning of May 29, 2023 when Buhari handed over to Tinubu.
The source said, “Some of the last-minute appointments by some ex-ministers will be nullified. It will be gradual, so I can’t exactly tell you the number of those who will be affected. As you know, some of them were done in a hurry. The appointments are being reviewed. I can confirm that to you.”
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, didn’t respond to enquiries on the matter as of the time of filing this report.
On May 11, for example, the former President approved the appointment of a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, Garba Baba-Umar, as a Senior Security Adviser on International Police Cooperation and Counter-terrorism in the Office of the Minister of Police Affairs.
According to a statement by the presidency then, the appointment was made to enable “Umar to complete his nationally beneficial tenure as an executive member of the INTERPOL.”
The immediate past Minister of Environment, Muhammed Abdullahi, also announced the appointment of a new coordinator for the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project on May 2, less than a month to the end of the administration.
A month earlier, Buhari through the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, appointed a new director for the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu.
He also re-appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the National Lottery Trust Fund, Bello Maigari, and the Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, Dr Gambo Aliyu, on March 24, while a new DG for the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency was appointed on March 21.
On May 23, the Buhari administration appointed 33 new directors in agencies under the ministry of aviation and aerospace management.
On May 25, Buhari appointed Garzali Abubakar as the Executive Secretary of the National Agricultural Development Fund.
On May 28, which was just a day to his handover of power, the former President approved the appointment of Sha’aban Sharada as the executive secretary of the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education.
Already, some of Buhari’s last minute appointees and long-serving appointees have been sacked by Tinubu.
For instance, Tinubu in June dissolved the boards of all federal government agencies, some of whom their members were recently approved by the Buhari’s administration.
On Friday, Tinubu removed Dr Bashir Gwandu, who was appointed by the Buhari administration as the Chief Executive Officer of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure on May 19, 2023. He named Khalil Halilu as his replacement.
