Buhari: Zones, individuals intensify campaign for SGF?

There are fears among South East leaders over the possibility of the Igbo losing out in the appointment of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, following the election of Ike Ekweremadu as Deputy Senate President. ORI MARTINS reports

There is a growing anxiety in the South East region over the appointment of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, which is believed to have been zoned to the region by the leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC. Reason: the emergence of Senator Ike Ekweremadu as Deputy Senate President is seen as a good excuse for the President MuhammaduBuhari administration to deny the Igbo the appointment.

Before now, there were reports of the South-South region and North East region also jostling for the seat. But the South-South appears more formidable as sources disclosed that Buhari might be inclined to nominate former Rivers State governor, RotimiAmaechi for the position. Also BabaganaKingibe is reportedly interested in the job.

How the election of the leadership of the National Assembly is going to affect other appointments like the SGF is still left to be seen. However, some regions like South-South that is yet to get any top position in the new regime may be considered first before the South East which has managed to run away with the Deputy Senate President against all permutations.

Be that as it may, a more surreptitious war is raging on the choice of the next SGF which the APC is said to have ceded to the South East geo political zone. It must be reported here that the immediate past SGF, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim hails from the East and is in fact, the first Igbo ward to occupy that position. Investigations have revealed that there are two factors why the appointment of the next SGF from the Igbo extraction is causing ripples in the rank and file of the APC and other interest groups.

First, under Dr.Goodluck Jonathan’s Presidency, the SGF was regarded as both powerful and influential and so it was reported that Anyim passed off as the most influential SGF in the history of Nigeria. To this effect, there were moves by so many interest groups from other zones in the country calling on President Buhari to curtail the powers of the SGF. For instance, during its courtesy visit to Buhari on Monday, May 18, 2015 in Kaduna, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) led by its chairman, former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomassie, informed Buhari that the Forum was not very comfortable with the “idea where the SGF would be rated above the Head of Service or be more empowered than the Ministers”. The ACF therefore urged President Buhari to ensure he does not continue with the Jonathan administrative line where the SGF was said to be influential than the ministers or head of service.

Explaining the mind of ACF, Charles Onyeulor, a lawyer and social critic based in Owerri said; “We interpret what the ACF as saying that President Buhari should whittle down the powers of the SGF simply because the position is coming to the South East geopolitical zone. If the APC has zoned the position of SGF to the North, would the ACF have still advised President Buhari to curtail the powers of the SGF? What the ACF has just done is nothing but nepotism in another form and Buhari should disregard it. If the ACF must request Buhari to whittle down the powers of the SGF, the group should as well direct the new President to water down his powers as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This is the only way well meaning Nigerians can take the group seriously”.

It is not only the ACF and its Northern elements that are waging a fierce battle against the composition, power and influence of the next SGF billed to emerge from the South East, some media houses and commentators on national issues from the South West have also joined in the evil campaign. For instance, The News magazine, a weekly publication, on its Vol14 No17 of May 18, 2015 carried a story vilifying Anyim as its major cover story. The attention seeking cover had it like this: Federal Agencies: Anyim’s Nepotism. The magazine argued that with Anyim as the SGF, the Igbo nation, Anyim’s tribe, got more juicy appointments than other zones and tribes. In other words, Anyim favoured his people more than the other regions.

Nonetheless, Hallmark can authoritatively reveal that Anyim, unlike his predecessors, duly followed the principles of the Federal Character Act in his duty post as the SGF. It must be pointed out here that some Yoruba groups, including the Yoruba Unity Forum led by Chief HID Awolowo; former SGF, Chief OluFalae and Dr GokeAdegoroye had equally complained about what they described as Anyim’s nepotism when he served as SGF. So, why are all these complaints coming up now?

UdochukwuNjoku, a well known public affairs commentator explained thus; “The truth is that the ACF and some media houses in the South West are working hand in hand to ensure that the powers of the SGF which the APC as a party has ceded to the South East are made nonsense. If not, how can a weekly magazine from the South West would come out with a negative cover story on Anyim, accusing him of nepotism and the next week the ACF was in Kaduna to request President Buhari to whittle down the powers of the SGF. It is a conspiracy against the South East and it is very sad indeed”.

Secondly, the battle for the appointment of Anyim’s successor is being waged because of the personality of the next SGF. Both the APC and President Buhari are pushing four different names. They include, Dr.OgbonnayaOnu, Senator Chris Ngige, Oscar Udoji and Anthony Anwuka. All the four persons are well known to Buhari except Anwuka who is introduced to him by the Imo State governor, OwelleRochasOkorocha. Left for Buhari, Onu who has courageously remained in the opposition since the return of democracy in 1999 is a man of integrity, honour and vision. Unlike the like of Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Senator IfeanyiAraraume and few others who were in the opposition in 1999 and eventually decamped to the PDP, Onu has been as constant as Northern Star as an opposition figure just as he refused to quit the ANPP until all the oppositions agreed to come together to form a mega party, the APC which ultimately dethroned the PDP in the last presidential election.

A former governor of the old Abia State but now hails from Ebonyi State and incidentally from the same area with Anyim. Already, most top Igbo politicians seem to be supporting Onu for the SGF position as could be seen from the deluge of goodwill messages he received recently when a University from the South East awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree to him. On the other hand, Ngige is a known face in the South East APC and one that can be described as the party’s poster boy in the South East. Ngige is experienced, courageous, hardworking and focused. He is mostly remembered for his liberation of Anambra State from the politics of impunity, patronage and godfatherism. According to Don Adindu of the Discovery Public Affairs Consulting; “Ngige has a formidable recognition. His successful fight against the notorious parasites and leeches of AnambraState who called themselves the state’s godfathers made national and international headlines. He set the standards for the rapid developments of Anambra State where he became an instant folk hero” Adindu noted that it was Ngige when he was the President of Aka Ikenga that formed the Igbo frame work that Dr Alex Ekwueme, EmekaOjukwu, Dr Sam Mbakwe and few others came out with the idea of 13 percent derivation, which hitherto was just three per cent; the creation of the present six geopolitical zones as well as the rotational presidency during the SaniAbacha 1994/95 Constitutional Conference.

But some Igbo wards are against Ngige’s candidature on the grounds that he supported the Igbo deportation from Lagos in 2013. It is also being argued that neither Udoji who is a known Buhari supporter and one of the few Nigerian businessmen who has been following Buhari since 2003 nor Anwuka, an Okorocha confidant but relatively unknown to Buhari has any chance of being named as the SGF.