The APC Presidential Campaign Organisation (PCO) and the Presidency on Sunday clashed over the composition of the transition committee set up by President Goodluck Jonathan. While the APC PCO described the committee as trickish, the Presidency said it was senseless for anyone to complain about it.
The Jonathan transition committee is expected to meet with the one to be constituted by the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, ahead of the May 29
inauguration of the new administration.The PUNCH had reported exclusively that the Jonathan transition committee would be headed by Vice-President Namadi Sambo and that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim, would serve as its secretary.
But the APC PCO, in an article on Sunday by its Director, Media and Communication, Garba Shehu, flayed the Jonathan committee, saying it is made up people who represent “the worst of our prejudices.” It therefore advised the incoming Buhari administration to be careful about its choice of people who would constitute its own version of its committee.
The APC PCO stated, “The President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has earned an incredibly high amount of goodwill following his acceptance of the outcome of the election, which itself had the effect of de-escalating tensions not just among Nigerians but all over the continent.
“But the President’s committee on transition and handover looks to be a trickish one. It seems to be like one drawn to ‘massage’ the numbers and ensure safety for ‘team Jonathan.’ “Some names on that list have certainly made the eyes pop out of their sockets. In the President’s list, you have men and women who reflect the worst of our prejudices; men and women who have made themselves the mouthpieces for everything regressive.
“This is one reason why the President-elect Buhari and his party cannot be too careful on choosing who they will give their part of the assignment to. There is no room for complacency in doing this either. Nothing that puts the incoming government at a risk should be allowed to happen.”
It suggested that the committee to be set up by Buhari should be peopled by technocrats and not politicians. The APC PCO warned that including politicians in the Buhari’s committee “may compromise the ability of the incoming government to get a full understanding of the issues(on the ground).”
It added, “Technocrats will on the other hand come in from a detached and hopefully, unbiased standpoint. Without preconceived ideas or mindset, a well-chosen set of technocrats may help unravel the rot that has eaten deep into the oil and maritime sectors, two money spinners, yet hemorrhaging government departments that are adequately represented in Dr. Jonathan’s transition team.”
The organisation pointed out that the successful take-off of the new administration would be determined by the quality of its handover committee. It said, “Buhari’s emergence as President has already unleashed an upsurge of patriotic zealotry and strong sense of probity and accountability that is flaring and sharpening with each day.
“It is, therefore, important for the country that both Buhari and the party have agreed that a good step to the successful take-off of the new administration is one that is defined by the quality of its handover team, itself driven by knowledge and experience and certainly not by patronage.”
“We have our respect for politicians. After all, they are the ones who led the party to this overwhelming mandate. But if they are given this job, they won’t be as incisive as is needful.
Let us not underrate or under-estimate the amount of damage that has been done to national institutions, the economy and politics by the 16-year mismanagement of the country by the Peoples Democratic Party. It is the combined effect of their unseriousness, shortcomings and their mistakes that have reduced the once dominant ruling party to a paltry minority stakeholder in the states and the National Assembly following these elections.
“What will work for the incoming administration and for the best interest of the nation is a strong set of committees, drawing heavily from experts in the several fields and a set of good, independent auditors.” But the Presidency, through the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, said Shehu’s statement amounted to “unnecessary busybody commenting.”
According to Abati, Shehu probably did not understand the composition of a transition committee and therefore could not have been speaking for his principal. He said, “He (Shehu) probably does not understand what the composition of a transition committee is all about. “His statement amounts to unnecessary busybody commenting because the transition committee on our side is supposed to prepare the handover notes and to ensure that they are properly done.
“Then on Gen. Buhari’s side, there is another transition committee whose job is to collect the transition notes, review the notes and ask relevant questions to see if there are needs for clarifications. “Candidly, if he is complaining about the composition of the transition committee, it does not make any sense to me. He probably did not speak for his principal.
“I really don’t see the basis for what he had said. Complaining of the composition does not make sense at all.”(Punch)
