Thursday, 28th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search
Breaking News:

Ngige booed over defence of lopsided federal appointments

By Mohammed Abubakar (Abuja) and Lawrence Njoku (Enugu)
02 August 2016   |   5:33 am
Attempt by the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige, to defend President Muhammadu Buhari’s alleged lopsided appointments incurred the wrath of participants at a forum organised ...
Ngige

Ngige

• Presidency refutes alleged bias against Christians
• Rejects claims on IDP funds diversion, B’Haram war

Attempt by the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige, to defend President Muhammadu Buhari’s alleged lopsided appointments incurred the wrath of participants at a forum organised, yesterday, by the Federal Ministry of Information in Enugu.

His argument was met by boos, causing the meeting to be halted for several minutes, as voices rose in condemnation, many accusing him of “betrayal”.

Ngige had said: “I do not believe that the President has been lopsided in his appointments. He has, in fact, as much as possible, tried to carry every segment of the country along.
Look at the ambassadorial nominations. Some states did not get. Enugu got two and nobody is complaining. States like Gombe that didn’t get have not killed anybody.

“President Buhari chose people that he is comfortable with. If Buhari is not supporting Ndigbo, I will not be in his government. This government is managing the poverty the Jonathan administration left behind.”

The crowd resorted to booing him when he said the Chief of Staff appointed by Enugu State governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, is his “brother from Nsukka”.

Meanwhile, the Presidency, yesterday, denied claims by The Telegraph of London that Buhari’s appointments are skewed in favour of Muslims.

It also refuted suggestions by the tabloid that the administration is not doing enough to curb the activities of Boko Haram in the North East, and that it has been diverting international donations for displaced persons.

Responding to the July 29 edition of The Telegraph, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, in a statement in Abuja, said: “Since assuming office, President Buhari has treated all Nigerians without bias for ethnicity or religion as the composition of his cabinet and the policies and programmes of his administration demonstrate.

“To suggest his government is deepening Muslim-Christian division is not only untrue, but also plays into the hands of Boko Haram, who wish to divide Nigerians along religious lines.”

10 Comments

  • Author’s gravatar

    I couldn’t believe that Ngige of all people could condescend this low to insult sensibilities of Igbos. Ngige has lost his respect in South East. If he contest any election again, he will keep loosing. He is demmarketing himself by defending a bigoted Islamic fundamentalist called Buhari.

  • Author’s gravatar

    Senator Ngige needs not be crucified because of his position on political appointments. He is an appointee himself. People must channel their grievances appropriately, and not make scape goat of innocent people.

  • Author’s gravatar

    Somebody has sold his conscience
    betrayed his people
    defending what he knows it’s wrong
    Yeye dey smellllllllllllll

  • Author’s gravatar

    Buhari vituperation against UK Telegraph was nothing short of aggressive marketing of his illiteracy. The Daura buffoon failed to match his lies with the statistical data of his appointments. Moronic!

    • Author’s gravatar

      Short-Sighted. Read it again and again and give rightful definitions to words in the statements. English is not difficult I hope.

      • Author’s gravatar

        You are behind. The news of Buhari’s reaction to London telegraph has been well reported in the media and that is exactly what I responded to. Ngige doesn’t deserve my attention any more having threatened banks of sanctions for reacting to economic realities of today by downsizing their human resources strength. You can go on defending what is indefensible, Buhari is a mess already.

  • Author’s gravatar

    Wailing Wailers should not blame Ngige for their lack of foresight but must blame their lust for SELF-OPPORTUNITIES.

    Why blame Ngige for lost opportunities ? Why not your other leaders too ?

    You as leaders could have respected your party constitution that stated in its rules “Rotational Presidency” but because an opportunity came by way of death to a sitting late President , you all danced like Psquare thinking upside down , using religions and marginalisation cries as weapon to destroyed what had gained popularity for 10years.

    Why didn’t Jonathan respected his party Constitution ? Opportunity.
    Why are there agitations today? Lost opportunities.

    Ngige should have hit the nail on the head rather than going in circles.

    Anyway, we Nigerians have corrected the mistakes of the past by going back amongst other reasons to ROTATIONAL PRESIDENCY.

    Whenever Buhari has fulfilled his 8years , we shall bring Dr Oby of Bring Back Our Girls as South East Presidential candidate or Ogbonnaya Onu.

    We our leaders across the nation and in every region because our eyes also view things and knows those that shouldn’t come near our COMMONWEALTH OR TREASURY.

  • Author’s gravatar

    I don’t envy Ngege but the truth is the truth. Even Northerners themselves have questioned the appointments of the president. No point defending the indefensible. I not only voted for PMB but I vigorously campaigned for him in his branded tshirt and cap; but even though I do not regret my actions given the only option at hand then and I still hold on to the hope that he could still do well, I must confess he’s fast losing my goodwill with his obvious bias for the north. It’s too glaring to pretend otherwise.