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.
