Quote:FCC: Appointment of northerners as Chairman, Secretary negates federal character — Chidoka

*Asks Senate to reject northern nominee for FCC chairman

A chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Osita Chidoka, has called on the Senate to reject the nomination of candidates from northern states of Kwara and Taraba as chairman, and secretary, respectively, of Federal Character Commission, FCC.

Chidoka said the nomination violated Section 4 of the subsidiary legislation which states that the distribution of position shall be across the zones.

He said that it had always been the tradition that Chairman and Secretary are from the North and South, respectively, for the same reason past governments, including that of Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, had appointed northerners as chairmen and southerners as secretaries.

According to Chidoka, “where the number of positions available cannot go round the states of the federation or the Federal Capital, the distribution shall be on zonal basis, but in the case where two positions are available, the positions shall be shared between the northern and southern zones.”

The former Aviation Minister recalled that when President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Mohammed Bello Tukur, the Legal Adviser of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, as Secretary of the FCC, many thought it was to pave the way for the first southern Chairman of the commission.

He said: “Instead in a rather brazen act the penultimate acting Chairman Mallam Shettima rather than handover to a southern commissioner handed over to the Secretary of the Commission.

“The President in violation of Chapter 2 of the constitution aptly named Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy that provides in Section 13 that;

“It shall be the duty and responsibility of all organs of government, and of all authorities and persons, exercising legislative, executive or judicial powers, to conform to, observe and apply the provisions of this Chapter of this Constitution’ has appointed a Chairman in violation of the spirit and letters of our laws.

“Chapter 2 Sec14(3) expressly mandates that ‘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 a 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 state or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or in any of its agencies’.

“But this government has consistently violated one of the most ingenious and ambitious affirmative actions entrenched in our constitution to promote national unity uniquely named Federal Character.”

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/04/fcc-northerners-as-chairman-secretary-not-federal-character-chidoka/