Usman
Bugaje, from Kastina state, has become the second ambassadorial nominee
to have turned down his appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Usman Bugaje
One of the non-career ambassadorial nominees
President Muhamamdu Buhari sent to the Senate for confirmation last
week, Usman Bugaje from Kastina state, has turned down his nomination.
Bugaje is the second nominee to reject the offer, after another
nominee, Pauline Tallen, a former deputy governor of Plateau state, rejected her nomination, stating she will not be able to pick up the appointment as she needed time to attend to her ailing husband.
While Tallen announced her decision to decline the appointment in
public, Bugaje is yet to release a statement on why he is rejecting his
nomination in the media.
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.
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,” he said.
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.”
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