Igbos has best appointment so far under Buhari - Keyamo

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In this interview with ENIOLA AKINKUOTU, human rights lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo, speaks about President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointments

You are from the South-South. Why have you come out to defend President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointments which are largely in favour of the North?

I am not a tribalist. If I was, I wouldn’t have campaigned for Buhari. I just wanted the best for Nigeria. I agree that some of the best brains are from the South while some of the best are from the North. We have brains everywhere. However, why people are clamouring for these positions that have just been filled is that people see them as juicy positions and this is my problem. About 95 per cent of the positions are yet to be filled. Buhari has filled just about five per cent of positions. For me, no government position is different from the other and that is the ideal situation. We should not classify some positions as more beneficial than others because that is a euphemism for corruption. It is a euphemism to say that some positions are better than others. People were clamouring for the position of Secretary to the Government of Federation and Chief of Staff because in the past, the Peoples Democratic Party turned those positions into money-making machines. Nigerians have seen the ostentatious lifestyles that others who have occupied these positions have lived. And the nation allowed them to get away with those crimes. And yet we say we want a change. We must begin to change our orientation. So, we are saying that we cannot make a holistic assessment until the President fills all these positions. For those positions he has filled, they are supposed to be occupied by those who are personally loyal to the President. I do not expect him to leave those positions to be filled by his political party. For example, you cannot say the chief of staff should be someone that is loyal to a power bloc in his party. That kind of person would close everyday from work, pick his telephone, and report all the activities of the President to his political camp. That would not be fair because that kind of person would not be loyal to the President but by the person who nominated him for that office. There are many positions that the political party can fill that will not have direct access to the itinerary and activities of the President. That is why I said people should be calm. There are ministerial positions to be filled, heads of agencies and many others.

We must change our orientation such that any appointment given to anybody from any part of the country must be accepted with dignity and pride and patriotism. The argument is that certain ethnic groups have seen some positions as being exclusive to them. They argue that since the presidency has gone to the North and some positions have gone to some other geopolitical zones, the next one must come to them. The clamour is because they see these as hierarchies of juicy positions and I say no.

Is it coincidental that the South-East, where Buhari got low number of votes, has not received any political appointment?

Buhari got the lowest number of votes from the South-South. But as I said, the appointments are not yet complete. You say he has not appointed any Igbo but the biggest position so far has gone to an Igbo man: Emmanuel Kachikwu who is the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. It is just by modern political divide that the man falls within Delta State but he is a Delta Igbo. They speak Igbo. It is only by political delineation that he falls within Delta State but there are Igbo speaking Deltans. He is an Igbo man but only on the other side of the Niger. He is not an Urhobo man. What language does he speak? Is it not Igbo? So what are we talking about? That is the biggest position and they have it already. So, you can see that all this noise is being made by frustrated and jobless politicians who just want to use ethnicity to get juicy positions. It is orchestrated. We the elite should not be moved by this noise and selfish agenda. Imagine a whole ethnic group campaigning for a position! Initially, they said chief of staff, then SGF. Now, with all the noise they have been making since May 29, imagine if one person from that region is appointed to that position. That person will then see himself as a champion of his ethnic group and his kinsmen will descend on that office in the area of contracts and gifts. He will destroy the sanctity of that office and turn it into a political chessboard because that person will see himself as representing a region in that position. It removes professionalism from that position. So, we should not campaign for offices on the basis of representing an ethnic bloc. Yes, every region will get appointments but once he is appointed, he should not see himself as representing that ethnic group but the whole country.

But Section 13 of the constitution states that the composition of the government of the federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity.

Yes, I agree but the government has not been fully composed. Is it the SGF and chief of staff that constitute the government? So what is the noise all about? Five per cent of all appointments have not even been made. All these noises would have been valid if positions had been filled and it is lopsided. What if the next 10 appointments made are all Igbo? Wouldn’t those people castigating the government look foolish?

Do you think these fears are misplaced in the light of Buhari’s statement that constituencies where he didn’t get many votes would not be treated equally with areas where he got many votes?

It is very simple. It doesn’t mean that they would be schemed out. But if he says that, it is his prerogative. If the President says he will leave certain sensitive positions to certain areas because those ones directly have to do with his security and if he leaves these other positions to a certain area, what is wrong with that? It is the President’s prerogative. Like I said, all appointments should be received with dignity and pride. That is why he is the President.

The constitution states that each of the 36 states must produce a minister. However, you have said that all the appointments could be made at different times in order to save costs. Do you think this would be wise in the light of the recent allegations of marginalisation?

I believe that our priority as a people should not be appointments but conservation of national resources. If I know that a minister is supposed to be appointed from my state but the President is making appointments in bits because we cannot afford 36 ministers at the same time, why shouldn’t I make the sacrifice because by the time it is the turn of my state to produce the minister, another state would not have. That is balancing and nothing is wrong with that. If for two years, a person from Delta is heading a ministry and within that same period, Edo State doesn’t have a minister and after sometime, the role is reversed such that Edo has a minister and Delta does not have, is that not equity? But the real issue is that people cannot wait to touch public funds and that is why they are complaining.

Igbos has best appointment so far under Buhari - Keyamo

Alamieyeseigha’s son: Keyamo accuses FG of double standard

Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo, has accused the Federal Government of giving preferential treatment to the death of a son of a former Bayelsa State Governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

Festus Keyamo

The former governor’s son, Oyamuyefa, was reportedly killed in Dubai on Saturday.

Keyamo, who described the death “under questionable circumstances” as “particularly painful”, however, said that similar incidents involving other Nigerian citizens had not enjoyed government’s swift response.

He said in the case of a Nigerian, Toba Falode, who was also said to have died under “hazy circumstances” in February 2014, was totally ignored by the government, leaving the deceased’s family “to grieve alone”.

The lawyer’s statement issued on Tuesday read in part, “However, we note the swiftness with which the Federal Government responded to this sad and painful news, with a call on the United Arab Emirates authorities to fish out the killers of Mr. Oyamuyefa Alamieyeseigha.

“However, whilst this action of the Federal Government is commendable, it smacks of double standards.

“Recall that on the 15th of February, 2014, Toba (Tyler) Falode was also murdered in hazy circumstances in Dubai; recall also that the mother, Aisha Falode, took it upon herself to carry out some discreet investigation into those circumstances and has since been crying out for justice for her son.

“Up till this minute, the Federal Government has not issued a single statement calling on the U.A.E. authorities to fish out the killers of Toba Falode.

“The Federal Government has played the ostrich in the case of Toba, leaving the mother and family grieving alone. “

The lawyer lamented the Federal Government’s scanty attention to the murder of Nigerians abroad; an attitude which he said had emboldened foreigners to snuffle lives out of more Nigerians in the foreign lands.

He maintained that Oyamuyefa’s death might have been averted if similar incidents had been given due attention by the government in the past.

He stated, “If the Federal Government has shown more interest in the case of Toba, perhaps the precious life of Mr. Oyamuyefa Alamieyeseigha would have been saved.

“It is important to note that we have written statements of witnesses who confirmed that the killer of Toba Falode confessed to the crime, and these statements have since been forwarded to the UAE Government, but it is such a shame that nothing has been heard or done, eight months after.

“We hope this is a bitter lesson to the Federal Government and we hereby re-iterate our call on the Federal Government to show more interest in the quest to find the killers of Toba Falode and bring them to justice.”

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Alamieyeseigha’s son: Keyamo accuses FG of double standard

Keyamo demands probe into Patience Jonathan’s nephew’s death in Abuja hotel

Human Rights lawyer, Festus Keyamo, has asked the Inspector General of Police to institute a probe into the circumstances surrounding the drowning of Christopher Awin, a nephew to Mrs Patience Jonathan, in the swimming pool of Agura Hotel in Abuja.

In a petition, Keyamo said:  “We are solicitors to Madam Esther Ebiere Gbonkumor and the entire Awin family. They have briefed us as follows: “That on June 7, 2014, their son, Mr Christopher Onoriode Akpomowei Awin, a 31-year old Nigerian citizen, was invited to a picnic by the Ijaw Students’ Association of the University of Abuja as part of the celebration of their cultural week.

“That picnic held at Agura Hotels in Abuja. We were informed that sometime at about 4:00 p.m., the picnic came to an end and all the members of the association left for the University of Abuja campus and their various residences in Gwagwalada, Abuja.

“However, Mr Christopher Awin stayed behind for some swimming exercise.

“In a most bizarre twist of events, Mr Christopher Awin was found drowned to death in the swimming pool of Agura Hotels at about 6:00 p.m later that day and officers of the Garki Division of the Nigerian Police were called in.

“A post mortem has been carried out by a certified consultant pathologist who confirmed that his death was as a result of drowning and further added that if the victim had received help within five minutes of being submerged, he would have survived. Our enquiries have shown that there were two life guards on duty at the pool who curiously left their duty post on flimsy excuses. Further enquiries also revealed that there was a busy bar beside the swimming pool. Inspite of the expected attendant staff presence, the body of the victim was not found until over one hour after he had drowned.”

Keyamo, therefore, urged the Inspector General of police to, as a matter of urgency, constitute a team of investigators to unravel the circumstances surrounding the death.

“We are respectfully inviting you to employ your good offices in ordering a full coroner’s inquest for the purpose of resolving the foregoing queries and charge all those found culpable to court.

“We repose confidence in your good offices and thank you for your anticipated cooperation,” a petition from Keyamo said.

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Keyamo demands probe into Patience Jonathan’s nephew’s death in Abuja hotel