In this interview
with Newsmen, human rights lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo, speaks about President
Muhammadu Buhari’s appointments
You are from the
South-South. Why have you come out to defend President Muhammadu Buhari’s
appointments which are largely in favour of the North?
I am not a
tribalist. If I was, I wouldn’t have campaigned for Buhari. I just wanted the
best for Nigeria. I agree that some of the best brains are from the South while
some of the best are from the North. We have brains everywhere. However, why
people are clamouring for these positions that have just been filled is that
people see them as juicy positions and this is my problem. About 95 per cent of
the positions are yet to be filled. Buhari has filled just about five per cent
of positions. For me, no government position is different from the other and
that is the ideal
situation. We should not classify some positions as more
beneficial than others because that is a euphemism for corruption. It is a
euphemism to say that some positions are better than others. People were
clamouring for the position of Secretary to the Government of Federation and
Chief of Staff because in the past, the Peoples Democratic Party turned those
positions into money-making machines. Nigerians have seen the ostentatious
lifestyles that others who have occupied these positions have lived. And the
nation allowed them to get away with those crimes. And yet we say we want a
change. We must begin to change our orientation. So, we are saying that we
cannot make a holistic assessment until the President fills all these
positions. For those positions he has filled, they are supposed to be occupied
by those who are personally loyal to the President. I do not expect him to
leave those positions to be filled by his political party. For example, you
cannot say the chief of staff should be someone that is loyal to a power bloc
in his party. That kind of person would close everyday from work, pick his
telephone, and report all the activities of the President to his political
camp. That would not be fair because that kind of person would not be loyal to
the President but by the person who nominated him for that office. There are
many positions that the political party can fill that will not have direct
access to the itinerary and activities of the President. That is why I said
people should be calm. There are ministerial positions to be filled, heads of
agencies and many others.
We must change
our orientation such that any appointment given to anybody from any part of the
country must be accepted with dignity and pride and patriotism. The argument is
that certain ethnic groups have seen some positions as being exclusive to them.
They argue that since the presidency has gone to the North and some positions
have gone to some other geopolitical zones, the next one must come to them. The
clamour is because they see these as hierarchies of juicy positions and I say
no.
Is it
coincidental that the South-East, where Buhari got low number of votes, has not
received any political appointment?
Buhari got the
lowest number of votes from the South-South. But as I said, the appointments
are not yet complete. You say he has not appointed any Igbo but the biggest
position so far has gone to an Igbo man: Emmanuel Kachikwu who is the Group Managing
Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. It is just by modern
political divide that the man falls within Delta State but he is a Delta Igbo.
They speak Igbo. It is only by political delineation that he falls within Delta
State but there are Igbo speaking Deltans. He is an Igbo man but only on the
other side of the Niger. He is not an Urhobo man. What language does he speak?
Is it not Igbo? So what are we talking about? That is the biggest position and
they have it already. So, you can see that all this noise is being made by
frustrated and jobless politicians who just want to use ethnicity to get juicy
positions. It is orchestrated. We the elite should not be moved by this noise
and selfish agenda. Imagine a whole ethnic group campaigning for a position!
Initially, they said chief of staff, then SGF. Now, with all the noise they
have been making since May 29, imagine if one person from that region is
appointed to that position. That person will then see himself as a champion of
his ethnic group and his kinsmen will descend on that office in the area of
contracts and gifts. He will destroy the sanctity of that office and turn it
into a political chessboard because that person will see himself as
representing a region in that position. It removes professionalism from that
position. So, we should not campaign for offices on the basis of representing
an ethnic bloc. Yes, every region will get appointments but once he is
appointed, he should not see himself as representing that ethnic group but the
whole country.
But Section 13 of
the constitution states that the composition of the government of the
federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be
carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and
the need to promote national unity.
Yes, I agree but
the government has not been fully composed. Is it the SGF and chief of staff
that constitute the government? So what is the noise all about? Five per cent
of all appointments have not even been made. All these noises would have been
valid if positions had been filled and it is lopsided. What if the next 10
appointments made are all Igbo? Wouldn’t those people castigating the
government look foolish?
Do you think
these fears are misplaced in the light of Buhari’s statement that
constituencies where he didn’t get many votes would not be treated equally with
areas where he got many votes?
It is very
simple. It doesn’t mean that they would be schemed out. But if he says that, it
is his prerogative. If the President says he will leave certain sensitive
positions to certain areas because those ones directly have to do with his
security and if he leaves these other positions to a certain area, what is
wrong with that? It is the President’s prerogative. Like I said, all
appointments should be received with dignity and pride. That is why he is the
President.
The constitution
states that each of the 36 states must produce a minister. However, you have
said that all the appointments could be made at different times in order to
save costs. Do you think this would be wise in the light of the recent
allegations of marginalisation?
I believe that
our priority as a people should not be appointments but conservation of
national resources. If I know that a minister is supposed to be appointed from
my state but the President is making appointments in bits because we cannot
afford 36 ministers at the same time, why shouldn’t I make the sacrifice
because by the time it is the turn of my state to produce the minister, another
state would not have. That is balancing and nothing is wrong with that. If for
two years, a person from Delta is heading a ministry and within that same
period, Edo State doesn’t have a minister and after sometime, the role is
reversed such that Edo has a minister and Delta does not have, is that not
equity? But the real issue is that people cannot wait to touch public funds and
that is why they are complaining.
-Punch