Opposition group, Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), has reacted to the latest appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari, in which Boss Mustapha and Abba Kyari were reappointed Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chief of Staff (CoS) and 11 other Special Assistants.

The group has vowed to continue challenging the legality of stay of office of some persons as aides to the president.

A statement at the weekend, signed by the group’s spokesperson, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, flayed the list of appointed persons, regretting that out of 13 appointees, 10 came from a particular section of the country.

The statement also castigated the backdating of the appointments, maintaining that the President lacked such powers.

It read: “The Coalition of United Political Parties received the news of President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-appointment of two top government officials and 11 personal staff less than 24 hours after the opposition parties dragged him to court.

“The CUPP had asked the court to restrain Boss Mustapha, Abba Kyari and others that have illegally been occupying their former offices after the expiration of their tenure on May 28, 2019.

“We are surprised that, if not for our decision to approach the court, the President would have continued to look the other way, as if he is not answerable to the Constitution, while these officials continued in their offices, drawing salaries and allowances from government coffers illegally. ”

“While commending the President for finally seeing reasons to announce these re-appointments, we make bold to say this is not enough. There are still many of his former aides that are continuing in office illegally and he knows them.”

In faulting the backdating of the appointments, CUPP insisted that the President could not, in the circumstance, backdate the appointments, as that would be ‘tantamount to an attempt to legitimise an illegality.’

“This backdating confirms that the officers were in office without subscribing to the oath of office and oath of allegiance and without declaring their assets as provided by the Constitution…,” it said. (The Guardian)

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