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| SGF: Mr Babachir Lawal |
Strong indications have
emerged that President Muhammadu Buhari is under intense pressure to sack his
Chief of Staff, Mr. Abba Kyari and the secretary to the Government of the
Federation (SGF) Mr. Babachir Lawal, over what they described as gross incompetence
and lack of administrative efficiency.
Our correspondent
gathered that top All Progressive Congress (APC) top leaders, as well as close
associates of President Buhari are putting pressure on him to relieve the two
principal officers of their job so that the APC led-government can find its footing
in the present economic and political crisis.
Our correspondent
gathered that party leaders have accused Kyari of been a stumbling block to the
effective and smooth running of government especially in preventing memos from
ministers and heads of agencies from reaching the president at the desired
time.
“Its unfortunate that
the Chief of Staff to the president keeps files from ministries in his office
for months without allowing the president see them. We can not understand why
he does it. Files that shouldn’t have taken more than 24 hours to reach the
president sometimes spend three months without getting the president’s
attention. This is one key reason while the government business is not moving
accordingly. This has greatly helped in slowing down the activities of
government and this is definitely not good for the government,” a top party
leader told Frontiersnews.
Investigations revealed
that President Buhari is having challenges over Kyari and Lawal’s issues as he
confessed to friends and political leaders that he was finding it difficult to
change Kyari because he had not seen a more competent hand to takeover the
office.
“The issue of the chief
of staff is a personal one. He is a personal staff and I have to be careful who
I appoint as Chief of Staff. I wouldn’t want to hand over that office to just
anybody but somebody that I know and who is competent,” the President was said
to have confessed to close associates and key party leaders.
Our correspondent’s
investigations revealed that despite hoarding files and preventing ministers
and heads of agencies from seeing the president, Mr. Kyari is also in the habit
of usurping the responsibilities of the SGF, head of the civil service of the
federation (HCSOF), ministers and heads of agencies.
He has been accused of
single handedly appointing boards of agencies and other key political
appointments in the country.
“Ministers are very
unhappy because Kyari is the one doing their jobs. He appoints boards and key
appointments in agencies and parastatals without consulting the concerned
ministers. The unfortunate thing about the whole thing is that they do not have
the spin to challenge him or report the matter to the president. This is very
worrisome and unhealthy for the government,” the party source said.
The source, who spoke
to our correspondent, on the condition of anonymity said “even the SGF and the
HCSOF cannot challenge Kyari. He is infact acting as if he is the president and
nobody is calling him to order. He can do anything and act the way he wants
without consulting anybody and nothing will happen.”
In the case of the SGF,
our correspondent gathered that party leaders are also complaining that he
doesn’t have the requisite experience to handle the critical challenges that
the office require, especially at this time in the life of the nation.
“The government needs a
vibrant, articulate and a more experienced SGF at this time. Lawal cannot
handle the challenges of the moment. This is a critical time in the life of the
nation and somebody who is charismatic, experienced and one with a vast
knowledge of the economy should be in charge. Lawal cannot handle what is
presently facing the Nigeria,” the source stated.
Source: NewsPunch
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