Former Kaduna lawmaker, Shehu Sani, has cautioned President Bola Tinubu against repeating the appointment mistakes of his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari. Sani made these remarks during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
Sani emphasized the need for competence in Tinubu’s appointments, stressing that Buhari’s eight-year administration, from May 2015 to May 2023, was plagued by nepotism without yielding significant results in key areas such as security, economy, education, and healthcare.
“I will advise President Tinubu to be careful not to make the mistakes of President Buhari, and I believe he is experienced to understand this,” Sani stated.
He criticized Buhari for retaining ministers for the entire duration of his administration without reshuffling or timely replacements, which he argued led to stagnation in governance. “Under President Buhari, you have ministers that were appointed into office for the whole of eight years; they were with him for the first tenure and the second tenure, and there was no cabinet reshuffle, no removal. Even if there was a removal, it takes three to four months to replace a minister,” he said.
Sani also highlighted the detrimental impact of nepotism under Buhari’s leadership, where ineffective appointees remained in office, leading to the erosion of career opportunities for competent officers. “Service chiefs were retained in office despite their failures, and by retaining them, you destroyed the careers of those behind them. For many years, many officers were retired to appoint one person,” he added.
To move the country forward, Sani underscored the importance of prioritizing competency in appointments. He further criticized political leaders in northern Nigeria for failing to utilize their power to address underdevelopment in the region’s 19 states. “What has all these powers been used for? It has not been used for the benefit of our people for a very long time,” he stated.
