Jonathan’s last-minute appointments improper–Sagay

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Prof. Itse Sagay, has described the recent political appointments by President Goodluck Jonathan as immoral and politically immature.

Sagay said this during a telephone interview with our correspondent on Thursday.

He said Jonathan was merely setting traps for his successor, Muhammadu Buhari.

Sagay said such behaviour was averse to democratic norms and practices worldwide.

Jonathan had in the last three weeks appointed a new Inspector-General of Police, a new Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, a new Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and 13 chairmen of governing councils of new federal universities, among others.

Sagay, while reacting to the development, said, “Personally I think it is an improper behaviour because he is saddling the new administration with decisions and appointments which he should have allowed them (Buhari’s government) to make in accordance with their own priorities and preferences.

“What Jonathan has done is to saddle them with people that they might not have appointed and he has removed people that they might have wanted to keep. Although he is legally capable of doing it, I think it is politically and morally wrong.

“And for me, it is an act in bad faith. Creating problems for your successor is not a good thing. The last-minute burst of energy to exercise power doesn’t make sense to me. It is just wrong and in a more mature society, this will not be done.”

Renowned economist, Prof. Pat Utomi, also described Jonathan’s fresh appointments as abnormal.

Utomi wondered why Jonathan would be appointing new officials less than three weeks to his exit.

He said, “It seems a little unnatural that someone who is leaving is doing all these things. However, he is still legitimately in office and has the right to do all that is within his power until May 29.

“The convention in countries where there are stable democracies is that once there is an incoming administration, the outgoing one typically does not make any major decision without consulting the incoming one. That is the tradition in the United States.”