APC governors raise concerns on Buhari’s ambassadorial nominees

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The governors of APC controlled states have complained about the recent ambassadorial appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari. One of the governors, Simon Lalong, faulted the decision of the president to come up with the list and send it to the Senate without adequate consultation.

He said consultations across board would have ensured fairness, citing an example of his state where the two nominees came from the same zone.

One of the nominees from Plateau, a former deputy governor of the state, Pauline Tallen, rejected the offer citing concerns about her ailing husband and lack of consultation with the governor.

Mr. Lalong, however, said beyond the issue of her sick husband is also a political consideration.

Emerging from a meeting of the APC governors with Mr. Buhari on Monday at the State House Presidential Villa, Mr. Lalong, who spoke to journalists, said many other states apart from Plateau have also raised concerns over the ambassadorial list.

He said the governors have raised the issue with Mr. Buhari and they have also resolved to forward their complaints on the matter to the president in writing.

“So all the states that have complains are going to put it in writing and the president promised he is going to look into it,” he said. He said the case of Mrs. Tallen is a good example of the lopsided nature of the appointments. “It is not a big issue but at times a little consultation would have solved that problem because these are issues in the interest of the state.

“So you can’t have two appointments , very key appointments like that coming from a particular zone that is already overloaded with appointments.

“All the federal appointments is from the southern zone, so it would not be fair.

“So it is the issue of fairness and now we are approaching Mr. President to consider fairness and appoint people from those areas that do not have representation.

“Pauline is an astute politician from my state, and part of the issue we also raised was on some of the appointments that were made.

“It is not only about her husband I think it is the dimension of Plateau politics because I had already made complaints to Mr. President that appointments should not be concentrated in one zone.

“So the complains that are coming from our state is not about her own personal interest, but is the fact that two ambassadorial appointments are coming from the same zone that we had complained,” he said.

The Plateau governor said he also hails from the same zone in question and they had resolved earlier that any appointment coming to Plateau should go to the other zones.

“And I think as a matured politician, she stepped down and sacrificed that for the people of Plateau. We are still working on a replacement for that,” he said.