The
umbrella body of Ijaw youths, the Ijaw Youth Council, has said the appointments
so far made by President Muhammadu Buhari contravene the provisions of the country’s
federal character principle.
The
council, in a statement on Sunday by its spokesman, Mr. Eric Omare, said
Buhari’s lopsided appointments did not respect the principle as stipulated in
Section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution.
Omare
said, “Though we are not surprised because we have always known that President
Buhari’s understanding of Nigeria is from Lokoja to Sokoto. Buhari has never
regarded the southern part of Nigeria as a part of the larger entity called
Nigeria.
“However,
the IYC is pained that the leaders of Buhari’s All Progressives Congress from
the South-South and South-East zones lack the gut to insist that the
constitutional provision on federal character should be obeyed.
“It
is, indeed, strange that the same people are now comfortable even with the most
flagrant violation of the Nigerian constitution by President Buhari and lack
the courage to challenge Buhari’s lawlessness.
“Ironically, some of them take delight in
maligning former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration on a daily basis
instead of focusing on how to give the South-South and South-East zones
attention in Buhari’s administration.”
He
said the IYC completely disagreed with the argument that Nigerians should
concentrate on competence rather than federal character in making appointments.
Omare
said while the council agreed that competence is important, it added that there
was no section of Nigeria that did not have competent hands to manage any
position given to them.
He
stated that the northern part of Nigeria could not claim to have more competent
people than the southern part.
Omare
called on South-South and South-East leaders in Buhari’s party to demand that
what was due to the two zones should be given to them.
He
said the contribution of the two zones to the emergence of Buhari was
completely irrelevant when appointments were being made.
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