President Goodluck Jonathan has been urged to desist from the gale of rushed appointments and concentrate on his transition programmes.
Just yesterday, Wednesday, the Federal Government announced the appointment of a new managing director for the Nigerian Ports Authority after the appointment of new leaders for the Security and Exchange Commission and Federal Commissioners in the Civil Service Commission.
Lagos Lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa in a statement queried the critical nature of those appointments which he said is orchestrated to compensate supporters and cronies of those in power.
“The present administration has barely one month to hand over to another administration, to which it has conceded defeat in the recent elections. That being the case, all these ‘midnight’ appointments run counter to the open declaration of President Jonathan, to create a level playing ground for the incoming administration”. Mr. Adegboruwa said.
“On the one hand, the President declined to assent to the Bill on vital constitutional amendments, he did nothing to harmonize his position with that of the National Assembly, for the benefit of Nigerians, resulting into a colossal waste of money, energy and human ideas. Instead, the President filed a suit in court and even sought an order of injunction, as a means of consolidating his position, to the detriment of Nigerians.
“One of the reasons given by the President was that he did not want to hinder the smooth administration of the incoming government or be part of a process that may whittle down presidential powers. So how do we then reconcile this with the President’s gale for these new appointments, into very critical sectors of the Nigerian economy.
Mr. Adegboruwa urged the President to forthwith stop further appointments or termination of appointments and face squarely the business of handing over.
The legal practitioner said the if the President is zealous to make a final and lasting mark, he should channel his new found energy, to finding the Chibok girls.
“let him rescue our citizens from the xenophobic attacks in South Africa, let him secure the release of some innocent Nigerians from the clutches of death, in Indonesia and other Afro-Asian countries, let the President end the fuel scarcity that is currently crippling businesses and human and vehicular movement and give us electricity, even for this one month.” Mr. Adegboruwa.
