South East Marginalized Under President Buhari, As Moves To Appoint An Igbo Man As Service Chief Suffers Great Setback
On Tuesday, a motion seeking to reconstitute the membership of the National Defence Council (NDC) and the National Security Council (NSC) suffered a major setback in the Senate.
Senator Victor Umeh, who moved the motion at plenary, wanted the Senate to pressure President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint a Military Officer who hails from the South-East as a Service Chief.
According to him, this would pave way for a fair representation of the people in the ethnic group in both councils.
Dr Bukola Saraki, the Senate President, ruled on the motion, noted and kept it in view after the lawmakers failed to reach a consensus. on the matter.
While moving the motion earlier, Umeh said that there was no South-Easterner in the current membership of the NDC and NSC. This, according to him, violates the Federal Character Principle, as enshrined in section 14 (3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
He stated that none of the Service Chiefs appointed to the National Defence Council and the National Security Council, was from the South-East of Nigeria.
“The exclusion of the South-East from the appointment of the Service Chiefs, will continue to cause a feeling of alienation, neglect, and consequential agitation among the people of the South-East”, he said.
Umeh noted that the inclusion of an Officer from the region among the Service Chiefs, would automatically make them members of the NDC and NSC.
According to him, this will go a long way in assuaging the “feelings of isolation and neglect”, among the people of the South-East.
The Senator further disclosed that there is “an array of qualified Military officers” from the region, capable of serving as Heads of the various branches of the Military.
He mentioned Rochas Nicholas, a Major General from Imo State, who is the current Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, the Army Unit leading the fight against insurgency in the North-East.
Supporting the motion, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe said that besides the Constitution provisions cited by Mr. Umeh, section 5 (1) (a) and (b), compels the President to abide by the Constitution.
In other words, Abaribe pointed out that the President was constitutionally bound to respect the Federal Character Principle in his appointments.
He alleged that what has been happening was a deliberate misinterpretation of the Constitution to marginalise some parts of the country.
However, some All Progressives Congress, APC, Senators, including Bala Na’Allah (Kebbi South), and Barau Jibrin (Kano North), opposed the motion.
They dismissed the positions of Messrs Umeh and Abaribe, as a gross misunderstanding of the provisions of the Constitution.
Besides, Na’Allah said that it was wrong for Umeh to raise the motion, since he was part of the Senate that found it expedient to confirm the appointments of the Service Chiefs, at that time.
He stated that the Federal Character principle was reflected in the recruitment of Personnel into the three arms of the Military.
Mr. Na’Allah warned that security issues should not be politicised, but rather be debated based on the spirit and the latter of the law.
He noted that approving the motion would amount to self-indictment by the Senate, having earlier confirmed the appointments of the Service Chiefs.
On his part, Mr. Jibrin said that it was not true that there is no South-Easterner in the National Security Council, as asserted by Umeh.
He said that Umeh deliberately omitted the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Godfrey Onyema, a South-Easterner, who is a member of the NSC, in an attempt to mislead the Senate.
He therefore, called on Umeh to apologise for misinforming the Senate.
Addressing Senate Correspondents later, Umeh stated that by the motion, he had succeeded in drawing the nation’s attention to the “lopsidedness” in the membership composition of the NDC and NSC.
In this regard, he said that the motion should not be seen as having failed.
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