GROUP TO BUHARI: Review your lopsided appointments skewed against northern Christians

The Christian Rights Agenda, CRA has charged the federal government of Nigeria led by President Muhammadu Buhari to review it’s alleged lopsided appointments skewed against northern Christians.

The CRA made the plea in a statement issued on Sunday by its interim Director of Publicity, Tom Chiahemen, who said that available data shows the President’s appointments, especially in his second term, is heavily skewed against Christians in the north.

The group therefore challenged the Presidency to make public the entire list of all Federal Agencies and Parastatals and their heads noting that appointments such as Personal Assistants and Special Assistants cannot in any way be equated with those of heads of Parastatal and agencies.

The CRA in the statement said, “For the first time in our political history, all the three arms of government are headed by Muslims to wit: The Executive is headed by President Buhari, the Legislature is headed by Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan and the Judiciary is headed by Justice Mohammed Tanko. Nigerians may recall that President Buhari illegally removed a southern Christian, Justice Walter Onnoghen as Chief Justice of Nigeria and replaced him with a northern Fulani Muslim in the person of Justice Tanko.

“The situation is even worse in the legislature as both chambers of the National Assembly are not just headed by Muslims but the House of Representatives is completely and totally in the hands of Muslims with the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Majority Leader and the Chief Whip all Muslims.

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“In this circumstance, we may not be far wrong to conclude that the coast is now clear for anti-Christian laws and other legislative resolutions to pass through this 9th Assembly unhindered”, it said.

CRA noted that for the first time since 1999, when Nigeria returned to civilian rule there are only two northern Christians in the Federal Executive Council as ministers out of 24 ministers from the northern part of the country. “They are George Akume (Special Duties) and Mrs. Pauline Tallen (Women Affairs) from Benue and Plateau states respectively. Worse still is the fact that these two very low members of the cabinet are assigned to what the Federal government itself regard as “Grade C” ministries. All the remaining 22 are all Muslims. Not only that, Buhari, for the first time since 1999 also appointed two senior ministers from the same states-Defense and Agriculture both from Kano state and Finance and Environment from Kaduna state who are all Muslims from the same goe-political zone (north west) as the President.

“In Kwara state, the two Ministers Alhaji Lai Mohammed and Senator Gbemisola Saraki are all Muslims and then in Bauchi State, with Minister of Education Malam Adamu Adamu and Minister of State for Trade and Investment Hajiya Maryam Katagum all Muslims.

“In Kaduna state in particular, since 1999, it has been the convention that where the Governor is a Muslim the minister is appointed from Southern Kaduna to balance the equation and there are many qualified southern Kaduna Christian APC members who worked for Buhari’s election and are still in the APC and yet have been left in the cold.

“In the Federal Capital Territory FCT, where the minister is a northern Muslim, the minister of state has always been a southern Christian. However, under Buhari, we have both the minister Alhaji Mohammed Musa Bello and minister of state, Hajiya Ramatu Tijjani, northern Muslims from Adamawa and Kogi states respectively. This is unprecedented in our history.

“On the whole, out of the 44 ministers in Nigeria, only 16 are Christians while 28 are Muslims. This huge disparity in the constitution of the Federal cabinet is not only the first of its kind in Nigeria, it is a dangerous precedent to say the least.

“If this is not enough, the lopsidedness in the appointments of security and service chiefs has left Christians, especially northern Christians, in the cold”, the CRA noted.

The group lamented that in the Defence and Security sector, only four out of the 17 heads are Christians while the rest are northern Muslims.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the following appointments in the military, para-military and security sectors will suffice to buttress the point as out of 17 heads only four are Christians while all the rest are northern Muslims: National Security Adviser, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Air Staff, Inspector General of Police, Comptroller General of Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, Comptroller General of Nigerian Customs Service, Comptroller General of Nigerian Immigration Service, Controller General of Nigerian Correctional Service (Prisons), Director General of the Department of State Service, Director General of the National Intelligence Agency, Controller General of the Federal Fire Service, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and Chief of Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).

“All the above are not just Muslims but are all northerners. The question we are asking President Buhari is: Are there not qualified Christians in the north and other Christian parts of this great nation, whose strength lies in her diversity, that can hold these posts? The entire south and Christians are just left with: Chief of Defense Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, Corps Marshall of the Federal Road Safety Commission and Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission. Only four.

“Recently, the Presidency released a list of political appointments by President Buhari in a desperate effort to counter allegations of his anti-Christian appointments and deportment. However, a keen look at the list indicates that, the list of Directors- General, Managing Directors, Executive Secretaries, Executive Directors and heads of extra-ministerial Parastatals is omitted. This is nothing but a desperate attempt to hide the facts and cover up for the unprecedented lopsided appointments by President Buhari. CRA believes that is another form of corruption. The lists of appointments as enumerated above has put paid to the belief that President Buhari is implementing an Islamisation agenda in Nigeria where all sensitive and strategic Federal government positions are now the exclusive preserve of Muslims especially northerners,” the CRA added.

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