Appointment of new IGP consolidates Buhari legacy as an unrepentant nepotist, bigot — HURIWA

Rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has described the recent appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari of Inspector General of Police (IGP), Alkali Baba, as “strange”.

It said this has proved the President’s bigotry in consistently appointing only Northern Moslems since, 2015, into top internal security positions.

By the appointment, the rights group said, the “Daura-born retired Major General Muhammadu Buhari has sadly consolidated his negative ‘milestone’ as the most nepotistic Nigeria’s President ever since 1960.”

Besides, HURIWA raised alarm regarding the violation of the constitutional principle of the Federal Character principle by the overstayed Comptroller General of Customs, Colonel Hameed Ibrahim Ali (retd), in which all the management officers of the so-called Nigerian Customs Service are all Moslem Northerners.

“Reports reaching us from the Nigerian Customs revealed that Colonel Ali who has remained in office beyond the expiration of his tenure without any kind of reappointment by his kinsman President Buhari has just promoted and appointed an all-Northern Moslems dominated management for what is called in writing as Nigerian Customs Service but which in practice since five years ago has been illegally transformed to Northern Customs Service.

The rights group said with the recent rash of top level appointments by the President which fail to reflect the Federal Character principle as provided for by the constitution, it is inconceivable to believe otherwise other than to conclude that President Buhari’s sole agendum is the total Northernization/Islamization of Nigeria which will continue to breed discord, national disharmony, civil conflicts, instability and insecurity.

HURIWA suggested that maybe those controlling the top echelons of governmental positions are executing the agenda of those conspiracy theorists in the west who predicted that Nigeria will implode and collapse soon.

“Whilst the President has refused to hearken to the voice of reason and has perdured and endured in implementing pro-Islamic and pro-Northern Moslem agenda of scheming out other major ethno-religious communities from commanding positions in the core economic institutions and the defence, the restoration of normalcy, calm, tranquility and stability may take a long time to be achieved beyond 2023.

“Since 2015, Moslem northerners have dominated and controlled unconstitutionally all internal security portfolios in Customs, Immigration, Civil Defence, Prisons, Police, Army, just as the Nigerian Ports Authority, NIMASA, FIRS, Aviation agencies, Accountant General of the Federation are all in the hands of Northern Moslems of either Hausa/Fulani and a sprinkling of Kanuris.”

HURIWA said the President and most of his appointees practicing toxic nepotism and polarizing the fragile unity in Nigeria are also in breach of Sections 14(3) and 42(1) of the Nigerian Constitution.

Specifically, Section 14 in Nigerian Constitution (3).

HURIWA said that it is dangerously becoming clearer that President Buhari is actively working to destabilise Nigeria through his divisive appointments and policies.