There may be fresh trouble for President Muhammadu Buhari as leaders of the All Progressives Congress., APC, are reportedly mounting pressure on him to sack political appointees of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
According to Punch, some leaders of the party have called on the president to sack the appointees and replace them with APC members.
Asides that, the APC leaders also criticized the president for not helping the party with funds.
An APC chieftain who spoke anonymously said they have not benefited from President Buhari’s presidency in his eight months so far.
He said: “President Buhari took over on May 29, 2015 and has not rewarded APC members. Most of the heads of departments and agencies are members of the PDP who worked for Jonathan. For example, Onyeka Onwenu is still the Director-General of the National Women Centre while Mike Omeri is still the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency.
“A former Special Adviser to Jonathan on Media and Publicity, Mr. Ima Niboro, is still the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria while Mr. Sola Omole is still the Director-General of the Nigeria Television Authority.
“There are almost 100 ambassadorial positions that are supposed to have been filled but these people are still occupying the offices. We are not asking for security or sensitive positions but all these appointments I mentioned are not statutory but merely political.
“Our people who worked so hard and spent money on Buhari’s campaign are languishing. There are many competent people in the APC.”
Another chieftain who did not want his name in print said if Buhari continued in his current pattern, the APC may not retain power beyond 2019.
He said: “In Bayelsa State, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Heineken Lokpobiri, was a member of the PDP during the elections and he campaigned for Jonathan. He defected to the APC in August and was appointed a minister the following month. And yet, the core APC members were abandoned.
“The Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed, from Gombe State, is not an APC member. The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, is not an APC member. The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, was a PDP member during the election and there are many more examples.”
