Lagos, Zamfara, Ebonyi Have Least FG Non-political Appointments

Senator Anyim Pius Anyim

A THISDAY INVESTIGATION

•Delta, Kogi, Osun, Katsina, eight others dominate table

By: Yemi Ajayi

Despite the provision of the Federal Character Act, which stipulates that appointments by the federal government must reflect Nigeria’s diversity, many states are still poorly represented in the appointments made by successive administrations over the last few years.

The administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, according to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, has been battling to correct the imbalance it inherited in federal appointments to ensure compliance with the principle of federal character.

While states such as Delta, with 27 appointments, top the table of appointees made by the federal government, along with 11 others, states like Zamfara, Ebonyi, Lagos, Sokoto and four others lag behind.

Anyim, in a presentation he made during the mid-term review of the Jonathan administration to mark this year’s Democracy Day, outlined the challenges faced by the administration in ensuring equitable distribution of appointments among the constituent parts of the federation.

According to the table presented by Anyim, details of which THISDAY obtained at the weekend, of the 550 top federal appointees, Delta emerged tops with 27 slots, followed by Kogi with 26 slots.

Other leading states which have 20 slots and above are: Adamawa (20), Anambra (25), Edo (23), Imo (20), Kaduna (21), Kano (20), Katsina (21) and Kwara (22). The rest are Ogun (22), and Osun (24).

Coming from the rear with federal appointments below 10 are:  Ebonyi (6), FCT (4), Jigawa (9), Lagos (8), Sokoto (7), Taraba (6), Yobe (9) and Zamfara (5).

Other states such as Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Bayelsa and Niger have between 11 and 19 slots.

According to the data supplied by the SGF, while Abia has 16, Akwa Ibom has 12, Bauchi (14), Bayelsa (17), Benue (19), Borno (14), Cross River (11), Ekiti (10), Enugu (13), Gombe (13), Kebbi (14), Nasarawa (10), and Niger (11).

On its part, Ondo has 14 slots, Oyo (10), Plateau (12) and Rivers (16).

Instructively, another table obtained by THISDAY from the Federal Character Commission (FCC), which gave a further breakdown of all the names of appointees for each state of the federation and the parastatals they head, did not include the ministers, federal permanent secretaries, ambassadorial appointees and the plethora of aides in the presidency.

Also conspicuously missing from the table were the positions of SGF and Head of Service of the Federation.

A senior official of the FCC said the ministers and presidential aides were excluded from the list because they are considered political appointees, while the permanent secretaries are all career public servants.

In his presentation, Anyim explained that the federal character principle was instituted to reflect the multi-ethnic diversity of the country with a view to ensuring that each section of the country is given “a sense of belonging in resource allocation and the distribution of federal positions in the federal public service”.

According to him, the idea is to allay “fears of ethnic domination or fears of same, which purportedly triggered national crises in the past, will be avoided”.

Besides, the diligent application of the principle was expected to help all sections of the country achieve parity in growth and development, he said.

Anyim added: “On assumption of office, it was discovered that the agitation and cries of marginalisation had arisen as a result of disregard to the federal character principle in most federal appointments and project allocations.

“It was also discovered that these, among others, have contributed to budgeting turbulence in the National Assembly.

“Consequently, the latest appointments to major federal positions have been carefully carried out to correct outstanding imbalances.

“This has not been easy and has led to delays in filling certain vacant positions as efforts are made to weigh the balance in such decisions.

“Our efforts in the last two years have yielded some result but much is yet to be achieved.”

STATES' REPRESENTATION OF FEDERAL APPOINTMENTS

State                  No. of Appts.

Abia                     16

Adamawa             20

Akwa Ibom          12

Anambra              25

Bauchi                  14

Bayelsa                17

Benue                  19

Borno                   14

Cross River           11

Delta                     27

Ebonyi                   6

Edo                       23

Ekiti                       10

Enugu                  13

FCT                        4

Gombe                  13

Imo                        20

Jigawa                   9

Kaduna                21

Kano                     20

Katsina                 21

Kebbi                   14

Kogi                     26

Kwara                 22

Lagos                   8

Nasarawa            10

Niger                    11

Ogun                    22

Ondo                    14

Osun                      24

Oyo                       10

Plateau                  12

Rivers                   16

Sokoto                   7

Taraba                   6

Yobe                      9

Zamfara                  5