President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his appointments are strictly based on merit and not on ethnic or religious considerations as is widely believed.

He made this known in an exclusive interview by Arise News which was closely monitored by The Vent Republic.

Buhari has been virulently criticized for making appointments from his northern part of the country in violation of the Federal Character principle which has a constitutional backing.

He said: “People who have been there for 18 years or even for 10 years, they trained in Zaria or in Abeokuta, they come through the ranks.

And because they served under all the circumstances, the crises and everything and they gradually rise to that status and you think you just pick somebody just to balance up? These positions have to be earned,”

The recent appointment of the Chief of Army Staff, Yahaya Faruk, however, contradicts this claim by the President.

Yahaya, a northern Muslim was picked over many of his seniors who have more years in service and are now to be forced into retirement despite the ravaging war against both the Boko Haram Insurgents and bandits who are threatening the corporate existence of the nation.