Rev. Innocent Ordu, Anglican Bishop, has warned President Muhammadu Buhari against lopsided appointments in formation of his cabinet.
Ordu, who is the Bishop of the Diocese of Evo, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), urged Buhari on August 1, Saturday in Port Harcourt while delivering his presidential address.
The cleric said: “Recapturing the spirit of excellence and integrity in service: The Daniel example.”
He advised Nigerian leader to respect the principle of federal character in choosing people to serve with him.
“Ethnic, regional or religious biases must be avoided. Merit, competence and even-spread of positions should be considered first and foremost,” Ordu said.
“Every Nigerian and groups of Nigerians are constitutionally at liberty to vote for any person or political party of their choice, even if that person or party ends up losing at the polls.
“That preference by an individual, ethnic groups or geopolitical zone should not make them suffer marginalisation in the distribution of political offices and other dividends of democracy to the various sections of the country”.
Bishop, who proclaimed that Nigeria belonged to all, also made a case for the people of the South-East and South-South zones, saying they did not perpetrate any crime against the Nigerian State by their voting form in the 2015 general poll.
He furthur stated: “They must not be made to stand by and helplessly watch the other parts of the country scramble for key positions in the country just because they voted differently. Once again, we say Nigeria belongs to all of us and so key offices in the land must be equitably distributed.”
He also defined as awkward and distressing the leadership crisis that rocked the National Assembly.
Ordu said the federal legislators were “shamefully soaked in the battle for who occupies what office in the National Assembly”.
He accused the leadership of the ruling party of the situation, adding that it was borne out of despair to share the spoils of election victory.
“They appear visibly to undermine the independence of the second arm of government by insisting that certain key offices be occupied by some already anointed members of both Houses.This, in our opinion, is totally wrong and will not make for the healthy growth of our young democratic process,” he concluded.
It should be noted that Nigerian president postponed selecting a cabinet for two months until September as he takes time to seek credible ministers to lead his administration.
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