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HURILAWS threatens to sue FG over violation of federal character principle

By Silver Nwokoro and Olaoluwa Ogungbe
13 September 2017   |   4:18 am
Frederick Fasehun has urged the presidency to address the restructuring of the country by considering recommendations of the 2014 National Conference for the country’s peaceful co-existence as a matter of urgency.

Deputy National President. O’dua People’s Congress, Wasiu Alabi (left); Founder and President, Frederick Fasehun and National Co-ordinator, Mudashiru Adeniji at a media briefing on the state of the nation in Lagos…yesterday. PHOTO:OSENI OLADELE YUSUF

OPC seeks consideration of 2014 conference report on restructuring

The Human Rights Law Service (HURILAWS) has asked the Federal Character Commission (FCC) to compel the Federal Government to implement federal character principle in its appointments.

Specifically, it is seeking the federal character principle in the appointment of the Board of Directors of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), failing which it would initiate legal proceedings after seven days.

In a letter to the acting chairman of FCC, Shettima Abba, signed by Collins Okeke, a senior legal officer of HURILAWS, it stated that three members of the NNPC Board were from the Northeast while the Southeast has no representation at all.

“This is a clear violation of the federal character principle enshrined in Section 14(3) of the constitution to ensure proportional sharing of all bureaucratic, economic, media and political posts at all levels of government in Nigeria,” it said.

It added that denying the Southeast representation in the board of an important national corporation like the NNPC, the Federal Government has discriminated against the region by subjecting its people to restrictions, which was not the case with the other regions of the country.

The group further stated that Section 4 (1) (b) of the Federal Character Commission Act CAP F7 LFN 2004 stated that the FCC is to monitor, promote and enforce compliance with the federal character principle by ensuring that each region of the country was fairly represented at all levels of government.

Meanwhile, the Founder and President of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), Dr. Frederick Fasehun has urged the presidency to address the restructuring of the country by considering recommendations of the 2014 National Conference for the country’s peaceful co-existence as a matter of urgency.

Fasehun said this yesterday while addressing the press and pleaded with the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to face the fact that Nigerians had drawn the roadmap for the country’s unity and survival through the 2014 National Conference.

“Centralism is no federalism. Regionalism should be supported for restructuring. We can be together but we should manage our individual regions to contribute to the centre,” he said.

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