The list has a history - Presidency explains reasons names of dead people appeared in board appointments

- The presidency opens up on the controversy surrounding the appointment of 1,468 Nigerians into the boards of agencies and parastatals

- Controversy had trailed President Buhari’s new appointees as 3 dead people allegedly made the list

- The president on Friday, December 29, President Muhammadu Buhari approved the appointment of 209 chairmen and 1,258 board members

The presidency on Saturday, December 30, reacted to the controversy generated by its appointment of 1,468 Nigerians into the boards of agencies and parastatals, Premium Times reports.

It was earlier reported that controversy had trailed the massive, historical appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, December 29, after names of some dead persons were found among the appointees.

NAIJ.com gathered that the list showed duplications and appointments of individuals that are no longer in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

According to Garba Shehu, a spokesman of the president, speaking to Premium Times, he said there was nothing scandalous about the list.

He said: “the list has a history” which explains the controversy around it. In 2015, Mr. President requested all state chapters of the party to submit names of 50 party members for board appointments.”

Shehu added that the names where compiled by the national secretariat of the APC and forwarded to the the former secretary to the government of the federation, Babachir Lawal.

“However, complaint arose from some governors who felt they were not carried along in the process. To answer this, the president constituted a committee under the vice president to review and reflect the interest of the governors,” he said.

However the presidential spokesman said action was delayed on the report of the committee headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as President Muhammadu Buhari took ill.

“The president’s trips for medical attention slowed down completion of the process. The current SGF was only directed to complete that process by releasing the list which he apparently did without altering it,” he explained.

Shehu admitted that errors were committed but added that “no human undertaking can be free of mistakes”.

He said the errors identified with the list were not enough to describe the exercise as scandalous, insisting that “there is no scandal”, adding that all errors in the list would be corrected.

NAIJ.com previously reported that President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, December 29, approved the appointment of 209 chairmen and 1,258 members of the governing boards of agencies and parastatals.

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This was contained in a statement issued by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha.

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