Presidency Explains Inclusion of Dead Persons in Federal Boards

The Presidency on Saturday explained why there were names of dead persons on the list of newly appointed chairmen and members of board of government parastatals and agencies.

The list was released on Friday by the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

The Senior Special Assistant to the on Media and publicity, Garba Shehu said that the list was prepared before President Muhammadu Buhari took ill and was subsequently released by the SGF, Boss Mustapha without any alteration.

According to him, the President requested for the submission of 50 names each by the state chapters of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in 2015 which were later complied by the National Secretariat of the party.

He also pointed out that the names were then submitted to the immediate past SGF, Babachir Lawal.

He said: “However, complaint arose from some governors who felt they were not carried along in the process. To answer this, the president constituted a committee under the vice president to review and reflect the interest of the governors.”

He said that action on the report submitted to the President by the committee headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was delayed because of President Buhari’s illness and his subsequent medical vacation abroad.

“The president’s trips for medical attention slowed down completion of the process,” he said.

According to him, the president only decided to revisit the matter recently and therefore directed the new SGF to release the list.

“The current SGF was only directed to complete that process by releasing the list which he apparently did without altering it,” he stated.

He said that the appearance of dead persons names on the list was a mistake which would be corrected.

The President had approved the constitution of the Governing Boards of Agencies and Parastatals, under some Ministries, as well as the appointment of eminently qualified Nigerians to fill the Board positions.

It is made up of 209 Chairmen and 1,258 members.

According to a statement issued by SGF, in Abuja on Friday said the President considered the approval for the constitution of the Boards as well as the appointments as they were “very necessary, so as to provide a proper Governance and oversight structure for Government Agencies and Parastatals.”

The statement added: “The constitution of the boards with the appointments, is a demonstration of this Government’s efforts aimed at building strong institutions of Governance, and by extension, improving the quality of Policy formulation and supervision.

“While these appointments represent a substantial number of hitherto pending board appointments, some more appointments are still being processed and will be released in due course.

“The appointments take immediate effect and Honourable Ministers are advised to inaugurate the boards after letters of appointment have been issued.”