Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has berated the National Assembly and the Federal Character Commission for failing to check the excesses of President Muhammadu Buhari in the uneven distribution of public offices.
Obasanjo also said his recent open letter to President Buhari was not borne out malice or ‘bad belle’ but out of his deep concern for the situation in the country.
He said this on Thursday at the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Oke Ilewo area of Abeokuta, shortly after the Coalition for Nigeria Movement was inaugurated in Ogun State, and he was registered as a member of the movement.
The former President, who was flanked by a former Military Administrator of old Ondo State, Gen. Ekundayo Opaleye and a former Minister of State for Defence, Mrs. Dupe Adelaja, said the ethos of nation building through even distribution of public offices had been abused.
He said, “Let me emphasise important areas, programmes, priorities or processes for improved attention. To start with, we seem to have taken nation building for granted. Nation building must be given continued attention to give every citizen a feeling of belonging and a stake in his or her country.
“For instance, the Federal Character principle, as espoused in our constitution, was to guide the leadership to search for competent holders of major offices to be distributed within the entire nation, and avoid concentration in a few ethnic hands or geographical places, as we currently have in the leadership of our security apparatus.
“To avoid such non-integrative situation, we have the National Assembly and the Federal Character Commission, both institutions which must raise the alarm or call for correction of actions by the executive that violates the spirit of our constitution.”
Obasanjo’s registration came almost 24 hours after the CNM was inaugurated in Abuja.
Obasanjo arrived the venue at exactly 12.44pm in company with dignitaries including former governors of Cross River and Osun states, Donald Duke and Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola.
The former President, while addressing scores of potential members who had gathered at the venue, said he was surprised that many Nigerians were worried that he exchanged pleasantries with President Buhari at the African Unity summit in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, few days after he wrote the open letter to the President.
He noted that he never condemned Buhari in totality but commended him in areas where he had performed well.
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