Allegations of ethnic and religious bias in appointments into top management positions in the nation’s cash cow, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, yesterday, drew the ire of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, the Pan-Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, and other opinion moulders in the South, who described it as a threat to national unity.
While Afenifere described it as an act of impunity, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo socio-cultural group, raged that President Muhammadu Buhari was not walking his talk on the plea for national cohesion. The stance of Ohanaeze was endorsed by the South East Senate caucus.
Two rival Niger Delta groups, the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, and Pan Niger Delta People’s Congress, PNDPC, in an unusual harmony, railed against the federal administration, describing the appointments as insensitive and further marginalisation of the oil producing region.
While Afenifere and Ohanaeze urged the President to immediately review the appointments, other groups and political stalwarts from the South, including former Senate Chief Whip; Senator Roland Owie, termed the appointments as provocative.
The uproar followed news of a major shake-up in the NNPC, last week. Out of 15 appointments made, 10 were from the North (mostly Hausa Fulani), three Yoruba, two from the South-South and there was none from the South East.
Ohanaeze
Reacting to the appointments, President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief John Nwodo, in a statement he made available to Vanguard, while calling on the President to review the appointments, said Ohanaeze was appalled at what it described as the consistent and unrepentant disposition of disdain for the South East by Buhari’s administration as seen in the reorganization at the NNPC.
The apex body said it had thought that after the President’s declaration in a broadcast recently that Nigeria’s unity was settled and not negotiable, that he would take all necessary actions in his governance to achieve it but the recent NNPC shake up has not shown that the administration is walking its talk.
He said: “This brazen disregard, marginalisation, and non-compliance with the Federal character provisions in our Constitution are the causes of lack of confidence which our youths have in our present governance structure.
“As long as President Buhari continues to live out his speech abroad that his government will favour those who voted 97% for him against those who voted 5% for him, so long will the dissatisfaction and unrest in our polity subsist,” Nwodo warned.
“There is no oil well anywhere in Northern Nigeria. Four of the five states in the South East have proven oil resources some of which provide our nation’s revenue, yet our people are not found fit to be adequately represented in a key corporate institution like the NNPC,” he said as he called for an immediate review of the appointments.
S-East senators
The stance of Ohaneze was endorsed by the South East Senate caucus. Speaking with Vanguard, yesterday, Chairman of the caucus, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, noted that the senators were in full support of Ohanaeze, saying “ we support Ohanaeze’s stance on what Buhari should do.”
Also speaking with Vanguard, Senator Mao Ohuabunwa, PDP, Abia North, called on the President to have a rethink on the issue, saying “this one is a clear evidence of the marginalization that we have been saying about this government.
“What happened at the NNPC is evidence that what we have been saying is not imagined, but real.”
Afenifre
Afenifere in its response articulated by its spokesman, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, said: “The issue for us is not about whether it favours us or does not favour us; it is about justice to all and being that it is skewed and that is not the way to build an inclusive society.
“You must carry everybody along. Does that mean that there was nobody qualified from the South East?
“Why the sheer impunity? I think that those who are running Nigeria now should be mindful of the need to build an inclusive society.
“You must earn the confidence of all, and it is not too late for this administration to listen and do something that is more balanced in a multi-ethnic society.”
PANDEF
Coordinating Secretary of PANDEF, Dr. Alfred Mulade, said the organization would come out with its formal position soon, but nevertheless stated that the group made its stand on NNPC, including participation in the
