Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has stated that President
Muhammadu Buhari ignored federal character in the appointment of
security chiefs.
Obasanjo spoke in Abeokuta Ogun State on Thursday where he criticized
the National Assembly and the Federal Character Commission for failing
to check the excesses of the President in the uneven distribution of
public offices.
He stressed that the ethos of nation building through even
distribution of public offices had been abused under the current
administration.
The former President also noted that his recent open letter to Buhari
was not borne out malice or what he termed “bad belle” but out of his
deep concern for the situation in the country.
According to Obasanjo, “Let me emphasise important areas, programmes,
priorities or processes for improved attention. To start with, we seem
to have taken nation building for granted. Nation building must be given
continued attention to give every citizen a feeling of belonging and a
stake in his or her country.
“For instance, the Federal Character principle, as espoused in our
constitution, was to guide the leadership to search for competent
holders of major offices to be distributed within the entire nation, and
avoid concentration in a few ethnic hands or geographical places, as we
currently have in the leadership of our security apparatus.
“To avoid such non-integrative situation, we have the National
Assembly and the Federal Character Commission, both institutions which
must raise the alarm or call for correction of actions by the executive
that violates the spirit of our constitution.”
DAILY POST had yesterday reported that Obasanjo registered as a member of the Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM) in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital