GOVERNOR Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State yesterday declared that the Federal Character Commission, FCC, has failed to ensure fair and equitable treatment of all the component states and ethnic groups in the country. The governor stated this during a one day workshop organised by the Federal Character Commission, FCC, in collaboration with Ebonyi State government at Abakaliki. He said: The appointment of key officers in Nigeria, at both Federal and State levels as prescribed by the Constitution in most cases only guarantee nominal but not substantive equity. ”For example, how many Ebonyians are working in sensitive Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies such as Central Bank, NNPC, Customs, Federal Inland Revenue Services, FIRS; Immigration, Foreign Affairs, to mention but a few. “The sad story is that today in Nigeria, the gap between theory and practice is as wide as the distance between Port Harcourt and Maiduguri.” In a remark, Executive Chairman of the Federal Character Commission, Prof. Shuaibu Abdulraheem, who was represented by the Commissioner in charge of Gombe State, Alhaji Haruna Geidam, argued that if the imbalances meant to be addressed by the commission were not properly handled, they might bring about suspicion, conflicts, feeling of alienation among various ethnic nationalities. ”There is no gain-saying that among the states in the South-East, Ebonyi State has the least representation in terms of federal appointments. “I urge you to always support your commissioner to address imbalances against your state. We will continue to work collectively to make you receive what belongs to Ebonyi State,” he said.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 04:59:49 +0000
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