The internet never forgets, they say. This saying has occurred on the part of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is seen in an old video clip condemning the appointment of old-aged men to critical positions in the country.
In the now-viral video clip seen online by Naija News, Tinubu could be heard making a mockery of the former administration led by President Goodluck Jonathan for giving an appointment to an old man.
Though the APC chieftain did not directly mention Jonathan’s name or the appointee in his remark, his words, however, read: “The present President [Jonathan] is a very young man.
“But he has been appointing an 83-year-old man somewhere to be chairman, not just on the Board of Trustees but of a Port Authority where highly decisions, articulated, modern 21st-century information technology is needed, where a man cannot identify the keyboard of a computer.”
Naija News reports that Tinubu clocked 70 years of age in March 2022, this is based on the publicly known date of birth of the presidential hopeful.
See the video below where Tinubu campaigned against old men in critical positions.
Jonathan Appointed Chief Tony Anenih As NPA Board Chairman
Naija News, however, recalls that Jonathan had in 2012 appointed Chief Tony Anenih as the board chairman of, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
Chief Tony AnenihAnenih as at the time is understood to be 83 years of age. His appointment as the then NPA board chairman earned Jonathan some critics from political big wigs in the country, including some elder statesmen.
In a statement obtained by newsmen at the time, the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) said Jonathan insulted Nigerians by appointing Chief Anenih NPA board chairman.
The coalition sternly condemned the appointment of the indicted chieftain of the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as chairman of the board of the NPA.
CNPP in the statement signed and released by its then spokesperson, Osita Okechukwu, said Anenih’s appointment was “an insult to Nigerians and endorsement of corruption.”
The statement reads further: “Whereas, President Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR, has the powers by the virtue of the powers conferred on him by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to delegate or appointment anybody to office; however we view the appointment of Chief Anthony Anenih to chair the Board of Directors of the Nigeria Ports Authority {NPA} as an insult to Nigerians and utter endorsement of corruption.”
CNPP further argued that the Ports Authority had been infested in “endemic corruption,” since the days of two PDP leaders- Bamanga Tukur and Bode George- as its head.
“Recently the House of Representatives accused the NPA of diverting N160 billion of revenue supposed to be remitted to the Federation Account, in accordance with Section 162 of the Constitution,” the CNPP said.
“For the endemic corruption in NPA, we are alarmed that President Jonathan instead of nominating a credible, transparent and maritime professional to clean the Augean Stable in the rotten Nigeria Port Authority; has wittingly insulted the intelligence of Nigerians by appointing Chief Anenih whose notoriety in public office is legendary,” Okechukwu said.
The Conference said Mr Anenih failed woefully as Minister of Works.
Naija News recalls that Chief Anenih later died on 28 October 2018.
This article was originally published on Naija News