Buhari still marginalised S/East in the appointments of Service Chiefs – HURIWA – Nigpilot

A Civil Rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of
Nigeria, HURIWA, has lamented that President Muhammadu Buhari made
changes to the offices of Service Chiefs without accommodating the
interest of the South East “even after five years of his systematic
marginalization of the zone in the scheme of top security
architectures.”

In a statement issued by the National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel
Onwubiko, HURIWA said it was patently obvious that President Buhari
hates Ndigbo otherwise he could have used the opportunities offered by
the vacancies in the positions of service Chiefs to prove naysayers
wrong that he does not harbor any forms of hatred or revulsion for
Ndigbo by nominating an officer of South East of Nigeria to head one
of the branches of the armed security forces.

“The South East of Nigeria with a population of over 50 million does
not have any representative in the National Defence Council of Nigeria
and this has been the ugly situation since the last five years as if
the current administration is waging a war of attrition against
Ndigbo. This is pathetic”.

HURIWA further declared that President Buhari has continued in his
breach of section 14(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria of 1999 as amended on federal character principles and
sections 42(1) of the Constitution on discrimination against any
Ethnicity on the ground of ethnicity.

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Specifically, section 14(2) and 42(1) of the Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999 as amended  provide that: “It is
hereby, accordingly, declared that:  (a) sovereignty belongs to the
people of Nigeria from whom government through this Constitution
derives all its powers and authority; (b) the security and welfare of
the people shall be the primary purpose of government: and (c) the
participation by the people in their government shall be ensured in
accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.

Section 42(1) provides that: “A citizen of Nigeria of a particular
community, ethnic group, place of origin, sex, religion or political
opinion shall not, by reason only that he is such a person:- (a) be
subjected either expressly by, or in the practical application of, any
law in force in Nigeria or any executive or administrative action of
the government, to disabilities or restrictions to which citizens of
Nigeria of other communities, ethnic groups, places of origin, sex,
religions or political opinions are not made subject; or  (b) be
accorded either expressly by, or in the practical application of, any
law in force in Nigeria or any such executive or administrative
action, any privilege or advantage that is not accorded to citizens of
Nigeria of other communities, ethnic groups, places of origin, sex,
religions or political opinions.

Whilst section 14(3) states that appointments into political or seven
e offices must comply with federal character Principle so
representatives of all ethnicity are represented or at least it would
be shown that there is no preponderance of a single ethnicity in the
composition of government offices. HURIWA argues that the continuous
marginalization of South East of Nigeria means that the security of
the people may not be considered important since nobody will speak for
the South East of Nigeria when matters of security are being discussed
at the National Defence Council.