Since the inception of his administration in 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari has been accused of tilting his key appointments in favour of the north (where he came from) and against the south.
Many Nigerians, particularly opposition politicians, claimed the president’s appointments violated the Federal Character Principle. Section 13, subsection (3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria states 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 command national loyalty”.
While the presidency and other (pro-Buhari) Nigerians have repeatedly countered the claim, the issue resurfaced again on Sunday, May 31, when Colonel Dangiwa Umar (Rtd), a former governor of Kaduna state, also alleged that President Buhari’s appointments were skewed in favour of the north.
He accused President Buhari of lopsided appointments, saying chaos has overtaken appointments into government offices based on a visible lopsided approach of the government in favour of certain sections thereby pushing the country into crisis.
“All those who wish you and the country well must mince no words in warning you that Nigeria has become dangerously polarised and risk sliding into crisis on account of your administration’s lopsided appointments, which continues to give undue preference to some sections of the country over others,” he said in a letter addressed to the president.
How true are these recurring claims that President Buhari’s appointments were skewed in favour of the north?
Daily Trust reports that a credible source faulted the claims, saying the southwest tops Buhari’s appointment list, according to the recently released list of ministers and aides by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF).
The newspaper reports that the document (not seen by our correspondent) revealed that people from the southwest constitute 33.7% of those appointed by President Buhari as ministers and aides.
Below is a list of the percentage of those appointed by President Buhari from each of the six geo-political zones:
Southwest – 33.7% Northwest – 19.5% Northeast – 15.3% South-south – 12.6% North-central – 11.1% Southeast – 7.9%
The document further showed that President Buhari appointed 64 people from southwest, 37 from the northwest, 29 from the northeast, 24 from the south-south, 21 from the north-central and 15 from the southeast.
In summary, 54.2% of the appointees (103) are from the southern part of the country while the northern part produced 45.8 per cent (87).
The state-by-state breakdown indicates that Ogun is the highest with 17 people while Adamawa is second with 14. Kano has 12, while Edo, Ondo, Osun and Katsina states have eight each.
Those with one include Ebonyi, Imo, Bayelsa, Cross River, Plateau and Zamfara.
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