…Demands inclusion of all geopolitical zones
Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia; Ike Nnachi, Abakaliki; Lawrence Nwimo, Awka; & Ben Ezechime, Enugu.
Individuals and groups from the South-East region, have vehemently rejected the presidential committee on national population and housing census recently inaugurated by President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, which excluded the zone and two others.
Some of the individuals and groups including two-time Minister of Education; and Health, Professor Ihechukwu Madubuike; Igbo Women Assembly, IWA; Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, COSEYL; among others, called for the immediate expansion of the committee to accommodate South-East and other omitted geopolitical zones.
Recall that while the eight-man presidential committee inaugurated by the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, had representatives from North-West, North-Central and South-West only; the South-East, North-East and South-South were left without any representatives on the crucial committee.
An analysis of the membership indicates that President Tinubu’s South-West geopolitical zone alone, has five slots trailed by the North-Central with two slots while the North-West geopolitical zone has one slot.
| South-West | North-Central | North-West | South-East | South-South | North-East | Total |
| 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
The composition of the committee include: the Chairman and Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, from the North-West; and Secretary, Hon. Nasir Isa Kwarra who doubles as the Chairman, National Population Commission (North-Central).
Other members include: the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, from the South-West; Minister of Information, Muhammed Idris, from North-Central; Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adelabu Adedeji, from the South-West; Director General, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Bisoye Coker-Odusote, from the South-West; Principal Private Secretary to the President, Hakeem Muri-Okunola, from the South-West; Senior Special Assistant to the President on Administration and Operations (Office of the Chief of Staff), Mrs Oyinade Nathan-Marsh, also from the South-West.
Reacting to the development, Professor Madubuike, said he did not believe the composition of the committee by Gbajabiamila on behalf of the President, actually had the nod of Mr President.
The elder statesman who said that a country could not be run by proxy, expressed confidence that President Tinubu would reverse the action upon his return to the country, insisting that the lopsided committee was not a reflection of the President’s will.
He said: “I believe that when the President comes back, he will revisit it. You cannot run a country by proxy, not even by your son.
“I don’t think that the appointment represents the President’s will. I don’t believe that the committee had the approval of Mr President. Definitely, President Tinubu will do better than that. He will reverse it because that’s not the way to run a multi-ethnic country like Nigeria.”
Similarly, Igbo women, demanded immediate disbandment or expansion of the committee to accommodate the South-East zone.
Speaking on behalf of Igbo women, the National President of IWA, Lolo Nneka Chimezie, said that the bias in the composition of the committee had given room for suspicion that the outcome of the census might be manipulated for the “political gains of those in charge.”
She noted that census exercise had been a subject of controversy in Nigeria, arguing that President Tinubu ought to have ensured a fair representation of all six ge-opolitical zones in the country, to erase any suspicion.
The IWA President, further argued that the President could not have excluded the Igbo race with a population of over 70 million people on the census committee, and expect to win the confidence and trust of the people.
She said: “Tinubu’s omission of South-East in his presidential committee on population census is an indication that Nigeria is not yet ready for an acceptable census. If Mr President did not see any wisdom to have Ndigbo with over 70 million people represented on the committee that will oversee the headcount, how will he convince us that the outcome of the census will not be manipulated against us?
“Considering that the outcome of census has always been disputed in Nigeria, the President ought to have ensured equity and fairness in the composition of the members of the committee. He should have selected at least, two persons from each of the six geopolitical zones and the Chairman from any of them, if he wants us to trust him. How can the President’s zone take five slots when three ge-opolitical zones have no representative on the committee and he wants us to take him seriously?
“With this lopsided committee against South-East, Igbo women are already suspicious that the forthcoming census will be another political tool to serve the interest of those in charge. Tinubu has missed another opportunity to get, at least, near- accurate population of Nigeria which has been highly manipulated against the Igbo race.
“Igbo women demand that he expands the committee to give South-East and other ommitted zones equal representation on the committee unless the headcount is for only Yoruba people.”
In the same vein, Igbo youths under the aegis of the Coalition of South-East Youth Leaders, COSEYL, have demanded that the committee be disbanded and a fresh one re-constituted to correct the imbalance.
The President General of COSEYL, Comrade Goodluck Ibem, said the composition of the membership of the committee was lopsided in favour of President Tinubu’s geopolitical zone, and “sends a dangerous signal about the proposed census.”
Ibem who said the membership of the committee did not reflect federal character principle, called for its cancelation and a re-constitution of a fresh committee that would accommodate all the geopolitical zones in the country.
He warned Tinubu against taking any step that could bring the integrity and outcome of the census into disrepute.
“The President should cancel the lopsided committee and reconstitute a fresh one that will accommodate all the geopolitical zones in the country and reflect federal character principle.
“What he did is totally unacceptable because it was against the principle of federal character. Excluding the South-East and other zones from such all important presidential committee is unjust and unacceptable.
“Tinubu is the President of Nigeria and not a particular zone. He should do the needful by expanding this one or reconstituting another committee. Removing South-East from the committee sends a bad signal that the census is not for every zone. So, it’s not in the best interest of the country that any geopolitical zone is excluded.”
Similarly, residents of Anambra State have expressed concerns over the failure of the President to nominate any representative from the South-East, South-South and Nort-East regions, describing his action as injustice and a sad development in the country.
Onyekachi Ololo, a Social Development Professional and Good Governance Advocate, told Ikengaonline Correspondent in Awka that the president is designing the census to be a failure with the one-sided appointment of the committee for the exercise.
He said: “What we are talking about here is census and housing exercise that was last done around 2006 and expected to capture the whole of the federation, but the President in his wisdom thought it wasn’t necessary to include some regions into the planning committee to foresee the arrangement and plans across all regions.
“Census is supposed to capture primary Data of the country which could go a long way to determine the planning and allocations of the budget, in infrastructural development, healthcare, education, agricultural plans and pulling people out of poverty, but the President has started from the design even before the census is conducted to position it to fail.
“By this singular action and for whatever reason, he is reducing himself from the president of the nation to the mouthpiece of a regional government.”
Ololo expressed concern about the presence of saboteurs and yesmen around the President, which he believed had prevented anyone from pointing out the imbalance in the appointment.
He expressed worry that the imbalance could lead to a loss of confidence in the census exercise among citizens, ultimately causing it to fail. He also questioned whether the President had been advised about the issue but chose to ignore it, which would be another cause for concern.
Chibunna Esedo, a public affairs analyst, expressed the opinion that the President’s selection of committee members might be based on factors like expertise, experience, and merit, but noted that excluding certain regions was a missed opportunity to foster inclusivity and representation, potentially fostering disunity.
“No doubt here that, effectiveness of the committee’s work will likely depend on the expertise and commitment of its members. With seasoned professionals like Senator Atiku Bagudu, a former governor of Kebbi State and a serving minister, and Dr. Zacch Adedeji, the Executive Chairman FIRS, on board, the committee may be well-equipped to tackle the complexities of the national population and housing CENSUS. There is absolutely no doubt about this.
“However, the absence and failure to accommodate representatives from the South-East and South-South regions could potentially impact the committee’s ability to fully grasp the nuances of these regions’ specific challenges and opportunities. Diverse representation in such a cosmopolitan committee can bring valuable insights and perspectives to the table, enriching the committee’s deliberations and recommendations at the end of their assignment.
“The success of this NPC ad hoc committee’s work will depend on its ability to effectively engage with stakeholders from all regions and to develop a comprehensive and inclusive approach and recommendations to the national population that houses census and the FG collectively,” Esedo said.
In his contribution, Joseph Egbeocha, a media practitioner, described the president’s action as bad and a sad reminder of the marginalisation of the South-East of the country.
“This is bad, and a sad reminder of the marginalization part or parts of Nigeria are complaining about. The President’s attention should be drawn to this, if he is not aware and in support of this error. Otherwise civil action, including boycott, should be taken.”
Dr. Chibuike Okafo, a legal Practitioner and social critic, said the sectional appointment of ministers, key officials into federal agencies by Tinubu’s government makes mockery of Nigeria’s professed slogan of ‘unity in diversity.’
“This act evidently ridicules the provisions of section 14(3) CFRN 1999 (as amended) which provides that; the composition of the government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few States or from few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or any of its agencies.
“There is need for inconclusivity in the appointments of Mr. President. Doing otherwise, will be a gross violation of section 14 (3) CFRN supra,” he said.
Responding, the Coalition against Natural Justice (CANJ) described as unfair, the omission of the South East geopolitical zone from the membership of the committee.
President of the coalition, Mr Chizoba Ugwu, said that the omission “negates the principle of national character.”
“This is not fair in all sense of it especially when we say we are practicing a federal system of Government in Nigeria.
“There is no justification for excluding the South-East or any geopolitical zone for that matter, ” Ugwu said.
He called on the President to revisit the matter, and appoint people from the zone into the committee for justice, fairness and equity.
However, reacting to perceived lopsidedness of the committee membership, a n Enugu-based constitutional Lawyer and politician, John Nwobodo, said there was nothing wrong about the constitution of the committee.
Nwobodo said that it was just a committee not the census commission itself.
“The National Census Committee of eight members consists of critical individuals in the public revenue sector, probably because of the need to assess the cost implications.
“To my mind, the members have no operational role.
“The National Population Commission has representatives from each State of the Federation reflecting compliance with national legal framework, ” he said.
The former governorship candidate of the Accord Party (AP), however, said that in a federal system of government there must be balance in every appointment to avoid issues of marginalisation.
Other respondents who spoke to Ikengaonline lambasted the President for the lopsided appointment into the committee.
One of them, Hillary Chiemerie, a resident of Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital, warned that the President’s action “will in the long run have a negative effect on the South-West and its people.”
He said: “President Tinubu is setting the entire Yoruba race on a bad precedence politically with his style of ‘Awalokanism’ (it is our turn).
“In the long run, the people from that side of the country will understand. They better protest this now before it gets late,” he said.
Another respondent, Kelechukwu Favour said: “The President is setting a bad precedence for the future.”
“We are documenting all this for the sake of history. Maybe tomorrow, if we get a Northern President and things like this repeat itself, let nobody cry. As for us Igbo, we are used to this,” he said.
Responding also, another resident of Abakaliki, Henry Ogwubie, said “the President’s action is further dis-uniting the country.”
Continuing, he said: “This Tinubu’s administration has shown less regard to trust, humility and respect to other federating units of the nation. It’s nevertheless becoming unbearable on how unity can be achieved. May God have mercy on us,” he said.
However, James Alegbe defended the list arguing that it is purely a statutory issue.
According to him, the committee members are heads of relevant agencies, ministries and departments involved.
“Their job is mainly advisory. The National Population Commission is purely the one who will conduct the exercise, and each state has a national commissioner in the commission,” he said.
