By Baba Yusuf
Abuja
The Adamawa Collective (TAC) has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to, as a matter of national importance and priority, sack his Principal Private Secretary, Alhaji Hassan Tukur, over “his deliberate acts of always misleading the exalted office of the President by skewing vital decisions in favour of his (Tukur’s) primordial ethnic group.”
A statement issued by the National Coordinator of TAC, Mr. Eli Gamaniel, said it was on record that President Jonathan appointed Tukur based on the understanding that he was going to assist in galvanising support for the administration, “but as it turned out, the contrary is what is being experienced.”
Gamaniel added that it was sad that “at a time that the country is being run admirably as a secular state, with full respect for adherents of all religions, and working to bridge the gaps that exist among Nigerians, Tukur believes in using his office in the Presidency to advance his religious biases and injecting same into the administration of President Jonathan.”
He added: “For instance, Alhaji Tukur ensured that Mr. Barde Jatua, who came top in the promotion examination to fill an existing vacancy in the position of Federal Permanent Secretary, was dropped in favour of Alhaji Aliyu Usman Numan, who trailed a far distant position in the exams.
“Similarly, Tukur unfairly manipulated the appointment of Professor Bernard Ladu in favour of one Professor Kyari Mohammed as Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Yola. The former came tops after a successful screening and interview process in which he was recommended by the Senate as the most qualified but was again dropped by Tukur.
“It is even more appalling that Tukur was quoted as having said that he can’t be in office and see non-believers (meaning non-Muslims) assume the position of Vice-Chancellor of FUT, Yola.”
“It is the same game that Alhaji Tukur is again playing in his resolve to get Governor Bala James Ngilari dropped out of the race for governorship in favour of his anointed candidate that is skewed towards ethnic and religious agenda in a state as diverse as Adamawa.”
The Adamawa Collective, therefore, demanded that Governor Ngilari should, like other PDP governors, be given the option of First Refusal in line with the policy of the party and not the adoption of a different dancing step.