Don’t Appoint Ex-Public Servants With Records Of Sleaze, CSO Cautions Tinubu

A civil society group, Centre for Leadership Legacy Int’l (Centre LLI), has cautioned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to avoid people with failed past leadership engagements into his government as public servants in his government.

Specifically, Centre LLI cautioned against prioritising party patronage over competence, character, pedigree and track records.

A statement signed by executive director of the centre, Dr Yakubu Yiri Idris, reminded the president that the buck stops on his table and that if he fails to meet the expectations of Nigerians on account of appointment of people of questionable character, he has posterity to contend with.

In the statement made available to journalists in Abuja, the CSO told Tinubu categorically that no one will share the blame with him if he allows politicians with selfish motives to misguide him.

It specifically gave the instance of a former managing director of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), who it said is being paraded before the president for appointment after she was eased out of office following allegations of sleaze, high-handedness and abuse of office.

Although Hadiza Bala Usman was later said to have been cleared by a panel set up by the government to probe allegations of sleaze against, she was however not recalled as NPA managing director after she was suspended.

But even at that, the group asked Tinubu to be wary of past public officials with baggage.

The CSO asked president Tinubu not to place too much emphasis on political patronage in appointing his ministers and other officials of his government.

Speaking on additional criteria, Centre LLI explained that though some constitutional provisions mandate the president to pick a minister from all states of the federation, in doing so, he should however be careful not to appoint who will pose to be liability to his government, instead of asset.