LAGOS AUGUST 27TH (URHOBOTODAY)-Following some media rumpus and criticisms over the perceived lopsidedness in the federal appointments made yesterday by President Muhammadu Buhari, Spokesperson of Pro National Conference Organisation, PRONACO, Che Olawale Okunniyi has reassured critics of President Muhammadu Buhari commitment to the principle of federal character of the country
Speaking in Lagos on Friday during a state of the nation assessment, Che Olawale Okunniyi said, President Muhammdu Buhari as a former leader of the country, is well informed and conscious enough of the delicate and sensitive nature of Nigeria’s diversity to toy with the already troubled stability of the country
“President Buhari is too experienced and conscious as a leader to commit the blunder of what critics termed as ‘northernisation of the federal government’. He is a very meticulous and calculative born again democrat, who understands the political implications of nepotism in an explosive environment like Nigeria
Okunniyi who was also Governorship candidate of Buhari’s defunct Congress for Progressive Change, CPC in 2011 and Governorship aspirant in APC in the build up to 2015 elections in Ogun state, further reaffirms that things will soon take a nationalistic shape. “We are already assured by the facts before us that the peoples’ general will definitely nationalise thousands of federal appointments in his custody.
“while dispensing federal entitlements and appointments, Buhari is not likely to discriminate or neglect the Yoruba people or any other tribes in the south; not even those regions where votes may have been obviously rigged against him in the 2015 elections” Okunniyi assuaged
Okunniyi said the slow pace of the government for now is not a sign of weakness but wise calculation and experience on the part of the President as a lot of things have already been mortgaged between the time Buhari reigned as Head of State and when he became an elected President of the country. So, according to the veteran political activist, the President really needs to look very well at the extremely delicate situation he now finds himself before leaping
“The Buhari that I know and worked with as a Yoruba man in CPC; a party perceived essentially as northern platform, was never discriminatory and bias on national matters for once. As a matter of fact, he gave those of us from the south more leverage in party decisions. So, cynics and pessimists should just wait and see as time will soon tell. Okunniyi admonished
The front-line political activist, while hinting of an ongoing consultation to convene a major summit of all politicians and leaders of thought in the country to set agenda for the stability and cohesion in the polity before the year runs out, also cautions critics not to rush or push the President to act with military fiat as the environment in which he is elected to operate now is completely different
He also stressed that “even as a military leader General Buhari was the most nationalistic and consultative of all other military rulers in the past and that is why some of us were proud to associate with The Buhari Organisation in 2007”
Okunniyi however concluded by saying “If Nigerians can do a careful study of the three months President Buhari has spent on the saddle, they will notice a steady improvement in the economy, foreign reserve and even electricity supply of the country, which is a hallmark of fiscal discipline and good governance. There is indeed no cause for alarm but for hope and patience”