Rights Group Blasts Buhari For ‘Replacing Kemi Adeosun With El-Rufai’s Stepsister’

A pro-democracy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has lambasted President Muhammadu Buhari over the replacement of former Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun with Zainab Ahmed.

HURIWA said Buhari’s action of appointing his “kinsmen” to head security and sensitive areas of government with those who share “same religion is a constitutional abomination which must be aborted forthwith.”

The organisation faulted Ahmed’s appointment, claiming the appointee was the stepsister of the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai.

Recall that Adeosun had last week resigned her appointment as the Finance Minister over the alleged forgery of her National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, exemption certificate.

Following the resignation of Adeosun, Ahmed was appointed the acting Minister as her replacement.

However, HURIWA in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko lamented “The decision by President Muhammadu Buhari to pick the reported step-sister of the Kaduna state governor (Nasir El-Rufai) Zainab Ahmed, a Fulani like himself as Finance Minister after the resignation of the immediate past Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, who had to leave following swirling allegations of certificate scam.”

The rights group also berated the President for, “concentrating key and strategic beats in the hands of only a section of the country”.

Against this backdrop, the body accused the, “President of nepotism which violates section 14 (3) of the constitution.”

The statement reads, “Why should this government concentrate the most important appointments in the cabinet such as Finance, Defence, Justice and the entire internal security team in the hands of a section of Nigeria and alienating others? This divisive tendency is a grave threat to national security and the survival of our union as a united political and sovereign entity.”

“Total control of all security infrastructures and the concentration of same in the hands of the President’s kinsmen who share same religion is a constitutional abomination which must be aborted forthwith.

It also questioned the ”replacement of a competent acting Director General of Directorate of State Security Services, Mr. Mathew Seiyefa with a retiree from Kano state Alhaji Yusuf Magaji Bichi”.