Alhaji Lai Mohammed The All Progressives Congress has threatened to probe the outgoing administration of President Goodluck Jonathan over some “last-minute dubious activities” ahead of the May 29 handover The party alleged that the outgoing administration had been looting the nation’s resources, hurriedly recruiting into the public service and privatisatising key financial institutions.
The APC, in a statement by its National
Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Sunday, said such actions
would have serious repercussions after May 29.
It said apart from media reports of such
anomalies, the party had received reliable information from members of
the public about some dubious actions by key officials of the outgoing
Jonathan administration. The party said while the Jonathan
administration remains in charge until the midnight of May 29, it was
important for the outgoing administration not to create any more
problems for the incoming government than it had already done, or to tie
the new government’s hands through some suspicious actions.
The APC said although the Buhari
administration would not needlessly probe the Jonathan administration,
it would look into all actions taken by Jonathan’s administration after
the March 28 presidential election. The statement read, ‘’For example, the
National Council on Privatisation, which is headed by the
Vice-President, has just approved the financial bid opening for
transaction advisers for the privatisation of the three development
finance institutions in the country – the Bank of Agriculture, Bank of
Industry and Nigeria Commodity Exchange.
The question is: What is the
rationale for rushing this exercise with just weeks left for this
administration? “Also, there have been reports, not
refuted, of a planned hurried recruitment into the Nigeria Immigration
Service, after a previous attempt ended in a national tragedy and the
fleecing of innocent job seekers by mindless Federal Government
officials. “Apart from the fact that this last-minute recruitment is suspect, it is irregular.
“The Civil Defence, Fire, Immigration
and Prisons Services Board is only empowered to recruit, promote and
discipline senior officers (levels eight and above). The power to
recruit, promote and discipline junior officers is vested in the
different services, in this case the Nigeria Immigration Service. “Therefore, the recruitment exercise now
being conducted by the federal civil service, under the auspices of the
Presidential Committee to Assist on Immigration Recruitment, usurps the
functions of the board as it relates to the recruitment of Senior
Officers (level 08) and that of the immigration service as it relates to
Junior Officers (levels 07 and below).”
The party also called the attention of
Jonathan to a published report that the Minister of the Federal Capital
Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed, plans to use the Federal Capital
Development Authority to carry out a secret employment of no fewer than
500 workers before the end of the month. ‘’We do not know if this report, as well
as others, is true. But if indeed these rushed privatisation and
hurried recruitment exercises – in the twilight of the Jonathan
administration – are true, they raise serious questions concerning the
reasons behind such actions.”
The APC urged Jonathan to caution his officials in order to save him from embarrassment.
It said it was such recklessness that
led to the downfall of Jonathan’s administration and it would be unfair
to bequeath such to the Buhari administration. It added, “We are therefore compelled to
call on President Jonathan to caution his officials, lest they engage
in actions that can later embarrass his administration.”
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