Police Trust Fund: Buhari unpatriotic, sectional, tribal – Group 

A group under the aegis of Campaign for Equity has described President Muhammadu Buhari as a man who will continue to remain unpatriotic, sectional and full of tribal sentiments, especially when it comes to federal appointments.

The group said in country where different tribes and ethic groups constitutes the strength of the nation, it will only be fair for the president to adhere strictly to the national character as enshrined in the constitution when making appointments.

Speaking through a statement on Saturday, the National Coordinator Campaign for Equity, Oliver Akosa, said the composition of appointments made by Buhari to head the Board of Trustees of the Police Trust Fund, is a clear pointer to inequity, injustice and nepotism.

The statement made available to our correspondent in Jos, further called on the President to reconstitute the board to reflect national interest and fair play.

According to the group: “We took more than a passing interest in the composition of the Board of Trustees of the Police Trust Fund recently announced by the Presidency.

“In the appointment under reference, former Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abbah, was announced as Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Fund, while Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto was pronounced the Executive Secretary.

“Members included Representatives of three ministries, namely, Ministry of Police Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning and Ministry of Justice. The Nigeria Police Force, Civil Society Groups and Organised Labour were also represented on the board of the Fund.

“While we applaud Buhari, for taking steps to ensure that the Nigeria police force is well funded, well equipped and highly professional in line with international best practices, we note with disappointment that the composition of the Board of Trustees of the Fund is sectional, parochial and lopsided and does not therefore meet the basic requirements of federal character as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,1999, as amended.

“We say this because Suleiman Abbah, chairman of the board, is from Jigawa State in North West Nigeria. The Executive Secretary, Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto, hails from Sokoto State in the same North West.

“It is clearly odd and obscene for a national agency which is supposed to reflect the country’s geopolitics, have its chairman and secretary coming from one zone of the country.

“As if this is not embarrassing enough, two other members of the eight-man arrangement come from the same North West. Mansur Ahmed, the member representing Organised Labour and Usman Bilkisu, the member representing Ministry of Justice, are from Kano and Kebbi States respectively.

“To cap it all, the Minister of Police Affairs, Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi, is from Sokoto in the same North West. This shows that the entire police apparatchik of the country is in the hands of the North West.

“This arrangement falls short of both regional and federal balance and we believe that these salient facts may have escaped those who constituted the Board of Trustees of the PTF.

“Consequently, we call on President Muhammadu Buhari to reconstitute the Board of the PTF and in doing so, he should be conscious of regional or geopolitical balance”, Akosa said.

The group national coordinator said, for a country that is working hard to get a police force that works, we need the contributions of critical stakeholders to achieve that objective.

“We need to broaden the civic space to accommodate various shades of opinion. The present parochial arrangement which concentrates everything about the Nigeria Police on one zone of the country is retrogressive and inhibiting. Nepotism or cronyism which the present arrangement promotes should be shunned and jettisoned”.

He however called on Buhari not to inaugurate the board of the PTF in its present order.