From Our Correspondent
The National Civil Society Council of Nigeria (NCSCN) has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to appoint qualified officials from the southeast to head the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
Dr Raymond Edoh, the Council’s Executive Director, made the appeal at a news conference, on Wednesday in Abuja.
Edoh noted that appointing the next head of FRSC from the southeast would enhance the principle of federal character.
“Recall that the Federal Character Principle in Nigeria was borne out of
“The need to ensure equitable spread of government appointments to promote inclusion and balance in the polity gave rise to the principle of federal character.
“Underlying philosophy is providing equality of access in public service representation to curb dominance by one or a few sections.
“The principle is in the 1979 Constitution for public offices and federal institutions to reflect Nigeria’s diversities,” Edoh said.
According to him, by the Act No. 34 of 1996, the government established the Federal Character Commission (FCC).
The government established FCC as a Federal Executive body to implement and enforce federal character principle of fairness and equity.
The Executive director said the commission had recorded remarkable achievements in terms of recruitment into the nation’s civil service.
However, he said, the same could not be said of appointments of heads of security agencies and para-military establishments over the decades.
He said verifiable records show that appointment into the nation’s security and para-military architectures do not reflect federal character principle.
Edoh, therefore, appealed to President Tinubu to engender national unity and integration in the nation’s governance.
He said the President should take advantage of the retirement of Mr Dauda Biu as Corps Marshal of the FRSC to remedy the unbalanced situation.
Earlier, the NCSCN Director (South West), Mr Yemi Success said every geo-political zonein the country should be treated equally.
“Facts speak for themselves, but there is a possibility that the leadership has not taken cognisance of the details. As the watchdog of society, we have placed it before the government.
“We will follow it up with advocacy. We note that President Tinubu has been one of the advocates of good governance and equitable distribution of power.
“We believe this may be an oversight. Now that we have placed the facts and figures before him, we are sure that he will do the needful,” Success said.
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