PenCom: Arewa youths reject Doherty as DG

By David Agba Abuja

Th e Arewa Youth Renaissance (AYR), an umbrella body of Northern youths in Nigeria and the Diaspora has rejected the re-appointment of Dikko Abdulrahman as Chairman, Bank of Industry (BOI) and Mr. Funsho Doherty as the Director General of PENCOM respectively. It could be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari on the 13th April, 2017 during the Easter holidays appointed the new management of PenCom led by Alhaji Dikko Aliyu Adbdulrahman as Director General, which was greeted by jubilations across the country. AYR expressed dismay that the acting President, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo on the eve of the Democracy Day celebrations on the 27th May, 2017, changed the appointment which according to the organization contravenes the Pension Reform Act, PRA 2014, while Section 21(2) of PRA 2014 provides that “In the event of a vacancy, the President shall appoint a replacement from the geo-political zone of the immediate past member that vacated offi ce” the Acting President cannot appoint a person from the SouthWest to replace Aliyu Dikko from the North-West.We therefore, reject the appointment in its entirety by the Acting President.

In a statement signed by Secretary of AYR, Comrade Ibn Yakassai, berated the sudden change and removal of Aliyu Dikko Abdulrahman with the replacement of Funsho Doherty from the SouthWest saying that it does not follow due process. He opined that Dikko is well qualifi ed and well experienced than Funsho Doherty and wondered what must have made the Acting President to change a winning team to suit his geo-political region by undermining President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointment in moving the nation forward.

Th e secretary emphasized that the teeming northern youths of Nigeria and the Diaspora, condemns the unprofessional removal of Abdulrahman as biased and capable of undermining the good relationship that have existed between the North and South-West and called on the acting president to reverse the trend that does not portend well for Nigeria’s democracy and for the diverse geo-political region’s growth and integration

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