Bugaje, another ambassadorial nominee, turns Buhari down

Usman Bugaje, an ambassadorial nominee from Kastina state, has turned down his appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Bugaje is the second nominee to reject the offer, after Pauline Tallen, former deputy governor of Plateau state, turned it down as well.

While Tallen announced her decision to decline the appointment in public, Bugaje prevailed on by top government officials not to announce his rejection of the offer in the media.

Tallen had rejected her nomination on the grounds that there was no “proper consultation”. She had also explained that her decision was done in fairness to other parts of the state.

Speaking to state house correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, Simon Lalong, Plateau state governor, commended Tallen for her decision.

“Pauline is an astute politician from my state, and part of the issue we also raised was on some of the appointments that were made,” he said.

“So, all the states that had complaints are going to put it in writing and the president promised he is going to look into it.”

Regarding Tallen’s decision to reject the appointment, Lalong said: “Well, it is not only about her husband; I think is the dimension of plateau politics because I had already made complaints to Mr President that appointments should not be concentrated in one zone.

“And so,  all these appointments came again from one zone, in that particular zone. So the complaints that are coming from our state is not about her own personal interest; it is the fact that two ambassadorial appointments are coming from the same zone.

“That is my zone. We had complained that the next appointment should go to the other zone, the central and the northern zone. And so when that appointment came, the kind of uproar that followed also necessitated an intervention.

“And I think as a matured politician she stepped down and sacrificed that for the people of Plateau. We are still working on a replacement for that. It is not a big issue but at times a little consultation would have solved that problem because these are issues in the interest of the state.

“You can’t have two appointments, very key appointments at that, coming from a particular zone that is already overloaded with appointments. All the federal appointments are from the southern zone, so it would not be fair. That is why we are approaching Mr. President to consider fairness and appoint people from those areas that do not have representation.”