Tinubu To Sack Buhari’s Last-minute Appointees

Indications have emerged that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu may nullify more of the last-minute appointments made by his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari before he left office.

Naija News reports that days before he handed over to Tinubu, Buhari continued to approve appointments even until the morning of May 29, 2023, which was his last day in office.

Sources have disclosed that plans were underway to replace some of the appointees appointed by the previous administration.

A highly placed source told The PUNCH that the move might affect the last-minute appointments by Buhari’s ministers and heads of agencies.

The source said, “Some of the last-minute appointments by some ex-ministers will be nullified. It will be gradual, so I can’t exactly tell you the number of those who will be affected. As you know, some of them were done in a hurry. The appointments are being reviewed. I can confirm that to you.”

Last-minute Appointments

On May 11, the former President approved the appointment of a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, Garba Baba-Umar, as a Senior Security Adviser on International Police Cooperation and Counter-terrorism in the Office of the Minister of Police Affairs.

According to a statement by the presidency then, the appointment was made to enable “Umar to complete his nationally beneficial tenure as an executive member of the INTERPOL.”

The immediate past Minister of Environment, Muhammed Abdullahi, also announced the appointment of a new coordinator for the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project on May 2, less than a month before the end of the administration.

A month earlier, Buhari, through the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, appointed a new director for the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu.

He also re-appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the National Lottery Trust Fund, Bello Maigari, and the Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, Dr. Gambo Aliyu, on March 24, while a new DG for the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency was appointed on March 21.

On May 23, the Buhari administration appointed 33 new directors in agencies under the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Management.

On May 25, Buhari appointed Garzali Abubakar as the Executive Secretary of the National Agricultural Development Fund.

On May 28, which was just a day before his handover of power, the former President approved the appointment of Sha’aban Sharada as the executive secretary of the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education.

Already, some of Buhari’s last-minute appointees and long-serving appointees have been sacked by Tinubu.

For instance, Tinubu, in June, dissolved the boards of all federal government agencies, and some of whom the Buhari administration recently approved their members.

On Friday, Tinubu removed Dr. Bashir Gwandu, whom the Buhari administration appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure on May 19, 2023. He named Khalil Halilu as his replacement.