Nigeria’s President Muhamadu Buhari has made awkward headlines after he appointed a dead man to a Federal Government position.
The President named late Tobias Chukwuemeka Okwuru as a board member for a government agency, two months after Mr. Okwuru had died.
The dead man’s name was on the list of 37 appointees that Mr. Buhari had sent to the Senate for approval, apparently unaware that Tobias Okwuru was dead.
Lauretta Onochie, Mr. Buhari’s press aide, has however tried to explain the blunder away, saying Mr Okwuru was alive when the president appointed him to serve on the board. “He even came to update his CV, in readiness for the appointment after the Senate screening”.
“When he sadly passed away while waiting for the screening by the Senate, that information was not communicated to the Federal Government,” she said.
This is not the first time Mr Buhari has appointed ‘ghosts. In 2017, the President appointed at least five people who were long dead on to several boards of government agencies.