Group urges Buhari to reconsider his appointments

The Akwa Ibom Leaders Vanguard yesterday charged President Muhammadu Buhari to reconsider the lopsided nature of political appointments since assuming office in 2015, insisting that it has been in variance with the spirit of 1999 Constitution (as amended).

In a statement issued by its Coordinator, Senator Anietie Okon, the group wondered why Akwa Ibom State, being one of the highest contributors to the country’s revenue could not be given a slot on the Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)

“Mr. President needs to rethink the trend because if the injustice is not addressed, the country awaits its doomsday.

“That the country under Buhari’s leadership has continued to drive recklessly towards disintegration and anarchy due to the continued lopsidedness of political appointments, which favours only the North.

“It is noteworthy that the Buhari administration, notwithstanding the enormous contribution of Akwa Ibom State to Nigeria’s oil revenue, never deemed it fit to appoint any indigene of the state NNPC’s Management and Board, its subsidiaries or any other strategic position in the major public offices, a development we consider appalling and retrogressive,” the statement noted.

The group lamented that no indigene of Akwa Ibom State was in the first to third leadership structure in the military, paramilitary and other major public offices in the country.

“It is also regrettable that the incumbent administration has concentrated the leadership of Nigeria’s security architecture on only the Northern section of the country to the detriment of the entire Southern region.

“Against the spirit of the constitution and total neglect of the diverse nature of our country, the Buhari administration has ensured calculated and gradual transfer of leadership positions in public offices to the Northerners, sacrificing merit, competency and geographical spread required for such offices against the spirit of the constitution,” it added.

It also expressed disappointment at the poor handling of Federal Government’s palliatives during COVID-19 pandemic, as the promised funds to vulnerable and poor Nigerians never got to the targeted beneficiaries, while the media has published billions of Naira paid to our people.

The group urged the National Assembly to investigate the handling of the COVID-19 palliatives by the President’s aides in Akwa Ibom and other states where the funds and relief items meant for the venerable disappeared on transit.