Lopsided Appointments: Nigeria drifting towards disintegration under Buhari — Akwa Ibom elders

By CHIOMA ONUEGBU, Uyo

Elders under the aegis of Akwa Ibom Leaders Vanguard have warned that “the continued lopsidedness of political appointments by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration which favours only Northerners” is leading the country towards disintegration and anarchy.

The Leader of the group, Senator Anietie Okon, who made the assertion in a statement made available to newsmen Monday in Uyo, wondered why president Buhari does not see Nigeria beyond his immediate Northern enclave.

Okon said the sack of Mrs. Mary Uduk, Acting Director-General of Security, and Exchange Commission (SEC) and replacing her with a northerner instead of ratifying her appointment, was a clear case of nepotism the Buhari’s led administration has continued to pursue and damning the consequences.

He explained that the group after exhaustive deliberations on recent developments in the country also observed that the action of the president accounts for the present-day abysmal socio-economic rating of the country.

His words, “We observed that the country under the leadership of President Mohammadu Buhari has continued to drift recklessly towards disintegration and anarchy owing to the continued lopsidedness of political appointments which favours only the Northern section of the country.

“Against the spirit of the constitution and total neglect of the diverse nature of our country, the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has ensured calculated and gradual transfer of leadership positions both in civil and public offices to the Northerners, sacrificing merit, competency and geographical spread required for such important offices.

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

Okon lamented that even with the enormous contribution of Akwa Ibom State to the oil revenue of the country, the president didn’t deem it fit to appoint any indigene of the state into the Board of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) or in, any of its major subsidiaries, describing the development as appalling.

He, however, recommended that the president should urgently arrest the rising angst among Nigerians by discontinuing the pursuit of sectional agenda in appointments into public offices.

“The leaders in their far-reaching recommendations appealed to Mr. President to revert to the constitution in ensuring the proper management of the country as a true federation.

“The President should in the interest of peace and Unity of the country reverse all biased appointments starting with the recent sacking of the Acting Director-General of Nigeria Security and Exchange Commission, Mrs. Mary Uduk who was relieved of her duty when she deserved confirmation of her appointment. The action was done in bad faith,” Senator Okon asserted. (Vanguard)