Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu Yesterday raised a Point of Order on the lopsided appointments by the executive arm of government led by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Ekweremadu argued those appointments being made by President Buhari is in contravention of the Federal Character and urged the Senate to Intervene.
His position was supported by many Senators, especially Senators Chuka Utazi, Obinna Ogba, and Mao Ohufbunwa.
The Senate directed the Committee on Federal Character to investigate the appointments made so far by the present administration and report back to it on Tuesday, July 24, 2018.
Below is his Submission intervention:
“I want to draw the attention of this Senate to the provisions of Section 14 (3) of our constitution.
It says: ‘The composition of the government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or any of its agencies’.
“I don’t have problem with any part of Nigeria. But I have problem with the way government is directing its appointments. Over the last two to three weeks, Sir, we have had cause to either discuss this FERMA that has been announced today or the National Deposit Insurance Corporation or Asset Management Company of Nigeria or Federal Civil Service Commission.
“The heads of all these parastatals have come from one particular part of Nigeria and this is completely unfair. We can’t sit in this Senate and allow that to go on.
“So, I believe that we need to point it out to the federal executive to ensure that every part of Nigeria is represented in the running of Nigeria. This is completely unacceptable to me, Sir.
“I am talking about the leadership of these agencies. The leadership of these agencies, all of them have come from one part of Nigeria”.
