By Aliyu Abdulwahid
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday in Abuja announced the appointment of Speaker of House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila as Chief of Staff (COS).
Tinubu also appointed Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, a former Deputy Governor of Jigawa State, as Deputy Chief of Staff.
In a meeting with Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), the President also named former Governor of Benue State and immediate past Minister of Special Duties, George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).
This was disclosed in a statement by Abiodun Oladunjoye, the Director, Information, on Friday
Meanwhile,former president Goodluck Jonathan’s aide, Reno Omokri said it’s a wrong assertion by the opposition to accused president Tinubu of appointing his kinsman as chief of staff.
Omokri who posted on his verified Twitter handle on Friday stated that president Obasanjo who created the office appointed a Yoruba, retired Major General Abdullah Muhammed from Kwara while former president Buhari appointed a Fulani,in person of Gambari from Ilorin, Kwara state.
According to Omokri:”It is false to assert that President Bola Tinubu is the first Nigerian President to appoint a Chief of Staff from his ethnicity.
The office of the Chief of Staff was created by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999. It did not exist in Nigeria’s Presidency before 1999, and the Nigerian Constitution does not recognise the office.
President Obasanjo appointed a fellow Yoruba from Kwara, in the person of Abdullahi Mohammed, a retired major general. Not only was the Chief of Staff under Obasanjo a fellow Yoruba, but the Deputy Chief of Staff under Obasanjo, Prince Olusola Akanmode, was also a fellow Yoruba.
The immediate past Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari, is Fulani, like his boss, General Buhari. And his predecessor, Abba Kyari, was Kanuri, as was General Buhari’s mother.
What we should be concerned about is whether or not the persons who are appointed by President Tinubu are qualified. And to me, a former Speaker is eminently qualified for the job.
There will be more than enough for us in the opposition to use in opposing Tinubu. But whenever we do, our criticism must be based on truth, to the best of our knowledge”
