Tinubu’s spokesman in Southeast, Onoh, dispels allegations of skewed committee composition

Following the eyebrow raised by the alleged skewed composition of the presidential inauguration committee of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu’s spokesman in the south east, Dr. Josef Onoh has said that the committee was not a substantive appointment by the President-elect.

In clarifying the hullabaloo that has trailed the list of the inauguration committee members, Onoh said that there was no point in the unnecessary alarm being raised by a section of Nigerians, maintaining that the inauguration list was a not a list of the appointments, but rather a continuation of the administrative structure of the incumbent government that is in exit while trying to inaugurate an incoming one.

Observers in the south east had raised objection that the 14-member inauguration committee was devoid of any member from the geopolitical zone, contending that the committee was a pointer to the sign of Tinubu’s government to come.

But Onoh said that the President-elect has not played any role in the inauguration of the incoming government and has not isolated anybody from the south east or any other part of the country, noting that Tinubu remains the Nigerian president-elect for everyone in a united Nigeria.

He stated that despite agitations from different quarters, Tibubu would be a president for all Nigerians where nobody would be excluded from the affairs of the country in his government.

According to Onoh, “The inauguration committee is not an appointment; the members do not represent substantive appointment, but a mere selection to pilot a transition period. The committee does not determine the outlook of any government. One thing people should understand is that Mohammadu Buhari is still the President of Nigeria and we cannot have two presidents at a time and the outgoing administration is the one responsible for the inauguration of the incoming government.

“The Buhari government has the right to appropriate and designate responsibilities as it pleases and these responsibilities do not represent a bias or aimed at isolating any particular segment of the country. It is therefore wrong for people to politicize the composition of a mere transition council. The composition is not aimed at the isolation of any particular ethnic nationality, it’s not an appointment.”

He maintained that the incoming Asiwaju-led government can only be judged when it has been sworn-in and not by actions prior to the formation of the government, stressing that the bulk of a transition committee rests squarely on the incumbent administration other than the yet to be inaugurated one.

“There is no point politicizing the inauguration committee which is being done in bad faith just to create a political divide,” Onoh said.