Members of the House of Representatives were divided on Sunday along political party lines on the alleged lopsided appointments into key political offices by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Appointments made by Buhari in the last one year have been viewed largely to tilt in favour of the North.
In the security circles in particular, at least 14 key offices are occupied by the North as against only three held by southerners.
Lawmakers, however, reacted to the President’s alleged lopsided appointments along political party lines with the All Progressives Congress lawmakers taking sides with Buhari, while those of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party criticised the President’s appointments.
The lawmakers, who spoke with The PUNCH, were mainly southerners.
For instance, Mr. Nnana Igbokwe, a PDP member from Imo State, accused Buhari of breaching Section 14 of the 1999 Constitution, which he said guaranteed “fair and equal” participation in governance for all Nigerians.
By appointing mostly northerners into key offices, Igbokwe argued that the President had sent the message that his administration would not “give the sense of belonging to all Nigerians.”
He added, “The body language of this government does not suggest that they want to carry every group along.
“Look at the case of the Niger Delta. You say you want to negotiate with the people in order to address their plight. How do you convince them that you are serious when they are not considered for any serious appointments.”
Igbokwe advised Buhari to seek out people he could trust in the South to give them key appointments, “assuming his reason is trust.”
He added, “There are people in those areas that he can trust.”
An APC lawmaker from Lagos State, Mr. Olufemi Adebanjo, disagreed with Igbokwe.
Adebanjo pointed out that the North had more local governments than the South.
He also observed that the North had other blocks like North-East, North-Central and North-West, adding that the appointments were made to cover the states in the zones.
“It is wrong for anybody to come up and shout that the appointments are lopsided.
“Even in the sharing of local governments, the North had more. If people did not complain then, why are they complaining now?” he stated.
The Leader of the APC’s caucus, and Leader of the House, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, noted that while the appointments might appear on the surface to be lopsided, only a thorough analysis of how past administrations made their own appointments could fault Buhari’s actions.
Gbajabiamila said, “While it may appear to be so on the surface, it is important before conclusions are drawn, to first do an analysis on the spread of same appointments in the last government. Second, the North is not homogeneous, but consists of North-Central, North-East and North-West with all the states being independent and claim outing for recognition under the principles of federal character as they are all federating units.
“One thing I do not believe is that the President is irredentist and he will consider whether or not these are justified complaints. He is also a man of strong convictions and will balance all justifiable yearnings with his conscience, which I know is pan-Nigerian.
“He means well for this country and has talked about the oneness of Nigeria several times.”
His PDP counterpart and Minority Leader of the House, Mr. Leo Ogor, criticised Buhari, observing that he appeared to be pursuing “sectional interests.”
According to Ogor, the President’s appointments are guided by the APC’s “policy.”
He advised Buhari to quickly review the appointments to make corrections by “reflecting all ethnic groups in the country.”
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