Best-selling author and a media aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri, has said there is nothing wrong with President Bola Tinubu’s appointment of his son-in-law, Oladimeji Ojo, as the Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Housing Authority.
Omokri in a post via his X handle on Friday, said nothing was wrong with the appointment, and so far the appointee has discharged his duties accordingly.
The former Presidential aide also cited examples of some American presidents who have appointed family members and inlaws, as their trusted aides.
According to him, apart from John Kennedy and Donald Trump, who have appointed their brother and son-in-law into positions of authority, other ten American Presidents have also appointed their relatives as aides.
Ojo, a former member of the House of Representatives, was one of the beneficiaries of the President’s approval of the reconstitution of the Executive Management teams of agencies under the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
However, some Nigerians, especially on social media, have been raising their voices against the choice of the former lawmaker, who is the husband of Madam Folashade Ojo-Tinubu, who is the first daughter of the President, insisting Nigeria is not a family business.
Reacting, Omokri tweeted: “There is absolutely nothing wrong with President Tinubu appointing his son-in-law as the head of the Federal Housing Authority, as long as the man concerned is qualified for the job. That is not nepotism.
“President John F Kennedy appointed his brother, Robert F Kennedy, as his Attorney General and most trusted aide. President Donald Trump nominated his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as a Senior Advisor to the President as well as head of the American Office of Innovation.
“Ten other American Presidents besides Trump and Kennedy have appointed family members to executive positions in the U.S. Federal Government.
“It only becomes nepotism when there is a pattern, and that pattern grants advantages to your relatives and or friends over others who are more qualified than them. A single incident does not become a pattern.”
