How security appointments were made —Presidency

THE Presidency has said security appointments by the administration were  determined by hierarchy and efficiency and not basically the principle of federal character.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, made this statement on a Channels TV programme on Sunday night, while reacting to questions that recent security appointments of the administration favoured the northern region over others.

Emphasising the importance of hierarchy, Adesina argued that it would be unfair and unjust to bypass people in giving them appointments just to satisfy the federal character principle of the country’s constitution.

“You know that in security, there is hierarchy. When it is the turn of a person to hold a certain office, you can’t bypass that person because the person is from a certain region to go for another person.

“By that, one has been unfair and unjust to that person and to the system because the security system, often times, operates on hierarchy and efficiency.

“It is not all appointments that must be subject to federal character. Ministers, for instance, which the constitution states that each state must produce in line with federal character, has been satisfied,” he said.

On threat to national security evidenced in several reported killings in the country, he assured that the nation’s security was tight enough to calm any purported state of insecurity.

He decried the attendant effect of continued attacks by the Niger Delta Avengers and other militants groups on the nation’s revenue and implementation of the 2016 budget, calling for a stop.

Adesina warned that continued attacks would affect revenue to states in the South-South region such that they may become unable to pay salaries.

“When the budget was passed, there was the pledge to implement it as much as possible, but then the unforeseen variables came in.

“At that time, the Avengers were not yet bombing installations in the South South region of the country. We were exporting about 2.3 million barrels of oil per day. Then it dropped to 1.5 million barrels of oil per day.

“So there is attendant revenue loss and this will affect the budget. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation said last week that there was already a 40 per cent loss in terms of revenue. The circumstances are making implementation of the budget difficult because the revenue projections are not being met as a result of what is happening in the Niger Delta and in other parts of the country.”

“The answer to ending the attacks can best be answered by the Avengers and other militants’ groups. But commonsense dictates that for the sake of the country, these attacks should stop because if the attacks continue, revenue will dwindle.

“Even states in that region that are very rich will no longer be able to pay salaries. It will affect relations of those sabotaging those installations,” he said.