With accusations of nepotism and cronyism levelled against his administration, President Muhammadu Buhari has again made an appointment that questions his commitment to Federal Character.
Appointments into key offices are believed to favour the Northern regions of the country, where the President hails from. This has again come to play with his latest appointment in the military.
Buhari, on Thursday, approved the appointment of Sokoto-born Major General Farouk Yahaya as the new Chief of Army Staff, replacing Lt General Ibrahim Attahiru. Recall that Attahiru and ten others including top military officers died last Friday in an ill-fated air crash in Kaduna.
The late army chief replaced Tukur Buratai, a retired lieutenant general from Borno, a North-eastern state. Although the appointment of the COAS is usually political as it may not respect the hierarchical order of the military, it is expected that the President would consider Attahiru’s successor from South-east, one of the marginalised regions in terms of appointments.
Going by history, checks by POLITICS NIGERIA shows that the South-east has only produced an Army Chief since the civil war ended in 1970. Appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan, Azubuike Ihejirika, who hails from Abia state, served as the army chief between October 2010 and January 2014.
However, observers and sources in the military expected that the President would have considered Anambra-born Major General Ben Ahanotu, who is not only a course mate of Attahiru but his second-in- command.
Ahanotu, who is currently serving as the Chief of Policy and Plan of the Nigerian Army, was the commander of the military operation that captured Mohammed Yusuf, the founder of notorious terror group, Boko Haram.
Ahanotu disarmed Yusuf and some of his followers after raiding their hideout in Maiduguri in 2009.Critics argued that the appointment of Yahaya negates the federal character which posits that the composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies shall be carried out in a manner that reflects the federal character of Nigeria.
This, according to section 14 of the 1999 constitution is to promote national unity, command national loyalty and allay fears of predominance of persons from a few states or a few ethnic groups.
Reacting to this, the Board Chairman of World Igbo Peoples Assembly (WIPAS), Mazi Chuks Ibegbu, said the President’s recent appointment clearly shows that he has something against the Igbos.
“The Constitution is very clear. He is enthroning a dangerous legacy. He has refused to run an inclusive nation in the past six years. He has the right to appoint whomever that pleases him but with the mood of the nation, I had thought he would have tried to correct some of his nepotistic posture but he has continued in a culture that tends to sideline a section of the country,” his statement read.
Also, the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE), a socio-cultural group berated Buhari accusing him of fueling ethnic distrust.
In a communiqué issued after its meeting in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, on Thursday, the National President of the association, Justice Demola Bakre (rtd) and the Secretary General, Dr. Kunle Olajide, took exception to the recent appointments made by President Buhari.
Fueling secession threats
A Lagos-based lawyer, Demola Williams, said the President could have doused the tension resulting from agitations of secession across the country.
In the past weeks, agitations for secessionist groups like Oodua Republic, Yoruba Nation and Biafra state have been heightened with protests staged across the different regions.
But Williams pointed out that President Buhari ‘blew’ his chance of curtailing the agitations.
“Rather than douse the tension, with this action, it will be worsened. You don’t govern a multi-cultural society this way. Those calling for a breakaway now have something to latch on. The President has not done well at all,” the lawyer told POLITICS NIGERIA.
He however urged Nigerians to make their grievances known at the public hearing for constitution review held across the country.
While the Senate concluded the public hearing for constitutional amendments across the six geopolitical zones on Thursday, the House of Representatives’ version will start on June 1.
