There has been lot of controversies following the appointment of 1,468 Nigerians into the boards of agencies and parastatals – names of some dead persons were found among the appointees.
There were also cases of duplication of names. The list included names of non-APC members meaning it was drawn long ago. Some of the names were submitted in 2015 but could not be announced due to the President’s long absence occasioned by illness.
Speaking to PREMIUM TIMES by telephone, Garba Shehu said “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,” Mr. Shehu 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 president’s trips for medical attention slowed down completion of the process,” he said, until when Mr Buhari decided to revisit the matter recently.
“The current SGF was only directed to complete that process by releasing the list which he apparently did without altering it,” Mr. Shehu explained.