Federal character Not Requirement for Service Chiefs’ Appointment, Says FCC

Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja

The acting Executive Chairman of the Federal Character Commission, Dr Shettima Bukar Abba, has said federal character principles were not required in the appointment of service chiefs by the president, adding that security issues cannot necessary be influenced by issues of federal character.

Bukar Abba who spoke thursday in Abuja during a national stakeholders’ seminar with the theme, ‘Prospecting and Monitoring Strategic Processes in Nationalised Spread of Staff in MDAs, stated that Nigerians were not fair in their harsh criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari over his appointment of service chiefs and other security chiefs.

“Security issues are not issues of federal character; they are issues of federal character at the recruitment level. For example, if a Major General goes to war and dies and he is from Borno (State), does that mean a Major General from Borno State should replace him? These are security issues and they go through certain processes and promotion’’, the commission’s acting chairman stated.

‘’If you subject them to federal character at the top level, you are creating mediocrity in security issues. Nigerians are unfair criticising the president on (security appointments). It is just like the justice (judicial system). To appoint a judge you don’t jump one particular level to another, unless you want to retire all of them.”
Bukar Abba confirmed that in recent time, there had been widespread unanswered national questions of inequalities, perceived marginalization, lop sidedness in political appointments and fear of domination by one ethnic group over another and one state over another, calling for a national rebirth which necessitated this kind of sensitization seminar.

He continued, “It was on this note that he stated that the Federal Character Commission in pursuant of its statutory mandate of observing and enforcing federal character principle, equity and fairness in recruitments, distribution of posts, socio-economic amenities and infrastructural facilities deemed it necessary for all our critical stakeholders to come together with a view to finding amicable solution that is in line with the constitutional provision as enshrined in section 14 (3) and (4)”.

Stating that the seminar was organised to sensitise government agencies across the federation on the need to adhere strictly to federal character principles, Bukar Abba said violation of the principles would attract criminal prosecution.

He, however, expressed satisfaction with the adherence to the principles by the federal government, saying that from the commission’s records and personnel statistics received and analysed by the management Information Unit from January 2016 to 2018, the commission recorded an appreciable adherence to the application of the commission’s guidelines and formulae for political appointees and bureaucratic positions by this administration.

He added that all states were being represented in all forms of appointment as demonstrated by the distribution.
Also speaking at the seminar, the Chairman of Senate Committee on Federal Character for and Intergovernmental Affairs, Senator Tijjani Kaura, canvassed the need to ensure justice in the country through the adherence to federal character principles.

Represented by Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi, Kaura, who doubled as the chairman of the occasion, called for strong sanctions against government agencies that violate the principles in the country