The Ohanaeze Ndigbo yesterday expressed disappointment at President Muhammadu Buhari over the recent appointment of a non-Igbo as Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).
The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation decried Buhari’s choice of a northerner for the position, saying it was an indication that he was not prepared to address the marginalisation of the Southeast region.
In a statement by its president, John Nnia Nwodo, the group decried President Buhari’s continued refusal to appoint an Igbo as SGF even after the All Progressives Congress (APC) zoned the position to the region.
It said the President has failed again to play a father figure, which his office requires in presiding over a pluralistic and divergent nation like Nigeria.
The Ohanaeze said Buhari’s action has further denied Ndigbo a strong place in his government.
It regretted that the president by his action has failed to seize the opportunity of running an inclusive government and assuaging the feelings of Igbo people by side tracking them again in the SGF’s appointment.
“It also shows his insensitivity to the marginalisation of Ndigbo by his administration.
“We had thought that the recent meeting of Southeast leaders with him in Aso Rock Villa opened an avenue for a new relationship with the zone, which appointing an SGF of Igbo extraction would have helped to cement, especially as the APC zoned the position to the region,” the statement added.
Nwodo noted that Buhari’s comments on Igbo ministers in his cabinet during the meeting could not have been a good reason to continue sidetracking them of a position zoned to them, especially when such appointment would have helped to heal wounds and reconcile a disgruntled people.
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