A few dead men were appointed into Federal Boards Friday by President Muhammadu Buhari but it was all due to the President’s protracted illness, the Presidency has explained. The errors were not deliberate, they were only human and they would be corrected, said Garba Shehu, a presidential spokesman.

A total of 1,468 Nigerians were appointed into the boards of agencies and parastatals. The list generated controversy after names of some dead persons were found among the appointees. There were also cases of duplication of names. The list included names of non-APC members meaning it was drawn long ago.  Some of the names were submitted in 2015 but could not be announced due to the President’s long absence occasioned by illness.

Speaking to PREMIUM TIMES by telephone, Garba Shehu 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,” Mr. Shehu said.

He said the names where compiled by the national secretariat of the APC and forwarded to the then 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”.

Mr Shehu however 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,” he said, until when Mr Buhari decided to revisit the matter recently.

“The current SGF was only directed to complete that process by releasing the list which he apparently did without altering it,” Mr. Shehu explained.

Additional report from Premium Times