President Buhari has again thrown the nation into confusion with the appointments of three deceased persons into the just-announced Boards of Federal Government’s agencies and parastatals.
This is coming barely a week after Mr. Buhari stunned Nigerians by saying he thought he was 74 years-old but that his doctor told him he was 75, indicating that he does not know his real age.
But as Nigerians are grappling with the reality of a president who does not know his age, a list of a long-awaited members of boards of government’s agencies and parastatals was released.
In the document, which was made available to the media on Friday, three appointees were found to be persons who are no longer alive to take up the positions for which Mr. Buhari gave them.
The NEXT EDITION can authoritatively confirm that Mr. Francis Okpozo, a Second Republic senator, who was appointed the Chairman of the Nigerian Press Council, died sometime in 2016 in Edo State.
Before his demise, Mr. Okozo was a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State.
We also found out that Mr. Buhari through his spokesperson, Femi Adesina, had sent a message of condolence to the family of the dead politician and the people of Edo State.
Another deceased person on the list is Christopher Ierwua Utov, who has been appointed to the board of the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research.
Read also: Buhari appoints 209 board chairmen, 1,258 members for government agencies
Mr. Utov was a Catholic priest from Logo Local Government Area of Benue State who died on March 18.
He was the founder of Fidei Polytechnic, Gboko and was said to have died of undisclosed sickness.
Also, on the list is a retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Donald Ugbaja, who is said to have died weeks back in Delta State.
Mr. Ugbaja, who was DIG in charge of finance and administration, was once arrested for alleged fraud.
He was subsequently quizzed by detectives from the Force Intelligence and Investigations Bureau (FIIB), Alagbon, Lagos. It is not known whether charges were pressed on before he was freed.
The deceased former top cop was appointed into the board of the Consumer Protection Council.
After two years in office, Mr. Buhari finally made the largest appointments of his administration by naming 209 board chairmen and 1,258 board members.
The appointments were contained in a statement from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha.
“The President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has approved the constitution of the Governing Boards of Agencies and Parastatals, under some Ministries, as well as the appointment of eminently qualified Nigerians to fill the Board positions, numbering 209 Chairmen and 1258 members,” a part of the statement reads.
“Mr. President considered the approval for the constitution of the Boards as well as the appointments, very necessary, so as to provide a proper Governance and oversight structure for Government Agencies and Parastatals.
“The constitution of the boards with the appointments is a demonstration of this Government’s efforts aimed at building strong institutions of Governance, and by extension, improving the quality of Policy formulation and supervision.
“While these appointments represent a substantial number of hitherto pending board appointments, some more appointments are still being processed and will be released in due course.
“The appointments take immediate effect and Honourable Ministers are advised to inaugurate the boards after letters of appointment have been issued,” Mr. Mustapaha stated.
