May 29 Inauguration: Tinubu makes more nominations into Transition C’ttee

…As Military declares handover sacrosanct

…Marwa, Onanuga, Kyari, Okotete, Araoye, others make list

…Exiting Govs fasten constitution of inauguration c’ttees

…No cause for alarm, fear not, we are ready — Defence Hdqrs to Nigerians

As the countdown towards power transition ticks in  less than 38 days, preparation towards the hand over saw   the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Thursday announcing the nomination of additional members into Presidential transition committee.

Recall President Muhammadu Buhari had on February 9 constituted a 20-man team led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha.

It was gathered no less than 13 more persons were nominated additionally by the President-elect to plan a week-long presidential inauguration event that will usher him in alongside Vice President-elect, Senator Kashim Shettima as the President and Vice-President of the Country.

It was gathered that Tinubu  in a letter to the SGF, Mustapha, announced a former Senator representing Borno North and current National Deputy Chairman (North) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Abubakar Kyari as the Coordinator and Director of Finance and Budget of the Committee.

The Executive Director (Business Development) at the Nigeria Export-Import (NEXIM) Bank, Stella Okotete will serve as the Head of Secretariat, Planning and Monitoring, while Mr Makinde Araoye, an ex-APC governorship aspirant from Ekiti State will serve as the Director of venue, parades and swearing-in for the week-long event.

Spokesperson of the APC Presidential Campaign, Mr Bayo Onanuga will serve as Head of Media and Publicity, while the Cross Rivers State Commissioner for Health and current National Women Leader of the APC, Dr Betta Edu will coordinate the medical team for the inauguration committee.

Col. Abdulazeez Yar’Adua, a younger brother of late Nigeria’s President, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, will act as the Head of Security and Ceremonial parade for the inauguration while Mrs Zainab Buba Marwa, will coordinate the pre-inauguration dinner and gala night for the committee.

Other members of the committee are Samira Saddik (Children’s Day), Abuh Andrew Abuh (Accommodation), Dr. Danladi Bako (Inaugural Lecture), Hajiya Hadiza Mohammed Kabir (Transportation and Logistics), Donald Wokoma (Protocol and Invitation), Bishop Adegbite (Church Service) and Imam Faud (Jumat Service).

This is coming amidst declaration of the military of readiness to ensure a smooth transition  defying purported plans for interim government as alleged from some quarters.

Recall that earlier, the President-elect had initially forwarded the names of Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State and former Lagos State Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Wale Edun to Boss Mustapha to be included as his representatives in the Transition Committee.

…No cause for alarm, fear not, we are ready — Defence Hdqrs to Nigerians

Meanwhile, to further allay fears of disruptions over the May 29 inauguration, the Defence Headquarters again on Thursday assured that the May 29 power transition remains sacrosanct, discarding any threat to national security.

While assuring that military and intelligence community were ready to counter any threat to national security, the Defence Headquarters expressed commitment to work towards a peaceful transition for a new government on May 29.

The Defence Headquarters declaring readiness to tackle machinations for any calamity, told Nigerians to go about their lawful duties and forget about what it said was mere “apprehension people are creating unnecessarily.”

The Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Musa Danmadami who gave the assurance on Thursday in Abuja at the bi-weekly news conference on the operations of the armed forces, urged Nigerians to discard apprehension that the hand-over of power would lead to crisis.

According to him, there were a lot of follow-up operations going on every day on the security matters of the Country.

“Like the general elections have come and gone, winners have been announced, people are just being apprehensive to be insinuating situations that are not there.

“People have been predicting that this country will finish but nothing has happened.

“Members of the Armed Forces like I always tell you will continue to give their best, and we are not resting on our oars to ensure that peace and security are sustained.

“I equally assure you that the intelligence community too works round the clock just like the Armed Forces to ensure that there is peace and stability. I can assure you that there are a lot of follow-up operations going on every day.

“People who are on the verge of committing a crime are being arrested; people who are moving ammunitions from one point to the other to go and commit havoc are being arrested every day as it was reflected in brief for today.

“So, people should not be afraid that when they hand over there is going to be calamity all over the place.

“I can assure you that we are ready to address whatever calamity that wants to come up.

“We are ready for that, so people should just go about their normal duties and forget about these apprehension people are creating unnecessarily.

“There is no cause for alarm and everything is under control,” he said.

Danmadami also assured the public that the Sallah would be celebrated peacefully.

While he acknowledged that there might be one or two isolated cases, he said the military and other security agencies are ready to tackle them.

Speculations of insecurity mayhem have formed part of the discourse of the May 29 power transition, particularly as it is feared that aggrieved political elements who the outcome of the general elections did not favour may be planning to unleash violence to foist an interim government as alleged from some quarters.

Recall, Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State had on Wednesday appealed for an escalation of security operations as the end of the subsisting tenure draws close with the need to hand over power.

El-Rufai, who spoke at the presentation of the State’s 2022 Annual Security Report and First Quarter 2023 Security Report, held at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, Kaduna, on Wednesday, said, “We commend the military and security forces for their efforts and sacrifices as they work to uproot the criminals. I wish to stress that in this region, this vital mission requires a comprehensive and consistent sweep, across the Northwest and Niger states for sustained success.

“We appeal for an escalation of security operations over the 39 days remaining till the end of the tenure of this administration and beyond so that the change of baton at the federal level does not result in a dangerous lull that criminal outlaws can exploit.

“There is every reason to intensify and sustain simultaneous ground and air kinetic actions across the seven frontline states of the Northwest region and Niger which have continuous and contiguous forest ranges and are most heavily impacted by this security challenge.”

El-Rufai in his last security reports as he prepares to hand over power to Senator Uba Sani on May 29 called on “the Federal Government to decentralise policing, put more boots on the ground and significantly improve the equipment and technology deployed in the security sector.”

…Exiting Govs. fasten constitution of inauguration c’ttees

State Governors who are on the roll of handing over power have continued to round off their programmes, constituing transition committee for hand-over.

On Thursday, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State approved the constitution of Inauguration Committee to coordinate a smooth transition to the next administration in the State.

The Commissioner for Information in the State,  Mr Charles Aniagwu, who made the disclosure said the Committee headed by Secretary to the State Government, Chief Patrick Ukah, has the Permanent Secretary, Government House, Mr Eddy Ogidi-Gbegbaje, as Secretary.

He, however, stated that membership of the committee and sub-committees was not an automatic qualification for appointment into the next administration in the State, advising against “entitlement mentality” being associated with membership of the committee.

Recall that Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, on Tuesday, inaugurated a 24-man State Transition Committee, with a charge to ensure a successful handover process as his two term of eight years would elapse May 29.