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Prominent northerners yesterday lashed out at President Goodluck Jonathan for accusing President-elect Muhammadu Buhari of running a parallel government following the outcome of the March 28 election.
The Federal Executive Council,rising from its meeting on Wednesday, had said the Jonathan Administration was not comfortable with some terms of reference of the incoming government’s transition committee which tend to create a parallel government.
National Planning Minister Suleiman Abubakar said government took exception to “some utterances, to some of the terms of reference that look as if the current government is being stampeded or intimidated.”
But reacting to the government’s position yesterday, the Chairman of the apex northern socio-cultural organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Alhaji Ibrahim Coomassie, said there was nothing wrong in Buhari’s approach and that the government itself had been making some questionable appointments at the twilight of its tenure.
He said: “They are sacking incumbents and making new appointments at this period of transition.That is very wrong too.”
He cited no instance,but President Jonathan has, within the last two weeks, appointed an acting Inspector General of Police and the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) after sacking the incumbents.
Coomassie advised the government and the incoming administration to “leave the blame game and allow a peaceful and successful transition to enable Nigeria move forward.”
Also reacting,the Secretary of the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), Professor Ango Abdullahi, dismissed the Federal Government’s allegation against Buhari as an attempt to force the incoming President to sign dubious documents.
Professor Abdullahi, a one-time Vice Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), said: “The allegation of attempting to run a parallel government is the most pedestrian accusation I have ever heard.
“ One thing is fundamental: If you are leaving office and handing over to another person, it is paramount that you leave a proper handover note to enable the new government take off properly.
“It is expected that the incoming government will be asking for a sound and complete handover note or document as the case maybe. So, I expect the outgoing government to provide that.
“But as it is, what it seems the Jonathan government is telling Buhari is that he should investigate wherever he is not happy with. Certainly, I will not expect Buhari to sign any document where facts are incomplete.
“Of course, he will take over the government, but it means the people leaving government are open for questioning.
“So, I think the whole thing is to force the incoming President to sign documents that are suspicious because when it boomerangs, people will fault the new government that ‘were you sleeping when you signed it?’ “
Similarly, human rights lawyer and a member of the APC in the transition committee, Mr. Solomon Dalong, insists that the Buhari camp has not requested for too must to warrant the accusation of running a parallel government.
He pointed out that if the transition committee had not delved into such government’s functions as generation and expending of resources, the power to arrest and prosecute, it could not be said to be running a parallel government.
Dalong said the accusation was laughable and a mere distraction to prevent the committee from doing a thorough job.
Meanwhile, the South-South Peoples Assembly (SSPA) said that the Federal Government was right to warn the transition committee of the President-elect against forming a parallel government.
The National Secretary of the organisation, Chief Ayakeme Whisky, said government must have uncovered tendencies of the Buhari’s committee to take over the role of the incumbent before issuing the warning.
He asked the incoming government to wait for its inauguration before seeking sensitive information from ministries, parastatals and agencies.
“Whatever information the incoming government needs should wait till the end of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration,” he said.
“They should only begin to act when they come on board. If they want to conduct probes, they can’t do that now until they are inaugurated. So, the Federal Government is right to have warned against a parallel government.”
Whisky also condemned the criticisms trailing last-minute appointments being made by the President.
He said: “It is an affront on the executive authority for anybody to question the appointments made by a president whose tenure has not expired.
“This administration has a lifespan and it terminates on May 29 after the formal handover to the incoming government. So, people should respect the constitutional rights of the government.”
He said the President could not have woken up to fire the officials and appointed new ones.
“It is a normal cause of business of government. Those crying blue are just heating up the polity. It is a display of rascality for anybody to question the appointments. There is nothing wrong in them”, he said.
It was gathered that President Jonathan’s anger at the transition committee stemmed from its request for an overview of some government agencies such as the Central Bank, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Customs and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The All Progressives Congress (APC) alleged on Thursday that Jonathan’s accusation that Buhari was running a parallel government was part of a grand plan to hinder a smooth handover.
The party also said the outgoing government was set to blackmail its successor.
It spoke of an act of hostility, a patently misplaced aggression and unnecessary vituperations against the incoming Buhari administration by the Federal Government “ostensibly because of the terms of reference of the Buhari Transition Committie, but in reality part of an orchestrated plot to sabotage the transition.”
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