Senator Dickson: Flagrant breaches of principles of federal character ‘divisive, violate Constitution’

Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, representing Bayelsa West, on Tuesday, called for an end to “flagrant breaches” of the principles of federal character which are in the Constitution.
He said the breaches were divisive and violated the Constitution.

He made the remarks while supporting the motion by Senator Sunday Ngwu from Enugu State for the Senate to investigate how ministries and different government agencies were implementing the provisions.
“The founding fathers of this country knew that Nigeria is a nation of nationalities and that there was a need to entrench an in-built constitutional mechanism for ensuring inclusiveness to give everybody a fair chance and a sense of belonging. That was why they invented the concept of Federal Character, providing that no part of the administration of the Federal Republic should be done in a way that will have a preponderance of people from one group, one tribe and one religion,” Senator Dickson said.

According to him, “The framers also established a Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal where violators can be tried for abuse of office. But over the years, successive operators have breached these provisions with impunity, giving opportunities only to people from their States, their local governments, their language, religion, and so on; creating unnecessary tensions and a loss of loyalty. It creates disenchantment and reduces patriotism. It makes people doubt whether the country is for them or for a few, and that has to stop. The President is the head of the Executive arm in a presidential system; he is a lot of things in one”.

In supporting the passage of the motion, Senator Dickson requested that the Senate should grant the Committee “between three to six months to investigate all Ministries, Parastatals and Agencies, with details of all employees and staff on a State and Local Government basis.
He said that in a place like “NNPC, even people from oil-producing places, our people, are not there. CBN, they are not there. In the military and security services, there are recruitment officers and Service Chiefs who recruit only people from their areas, discriminating against other Nigerians, and they build ethnic military and services for us, compromising capacity and weakening us ultimately.
“There are federal agencies where people speak one language and have one religion, and behave as if it is for them only. That has to stop. The Committee should conduct a thorough investigation. There is a need for every state to be represented”.
He agreed that the Committee on Federal Character should lead the investigation, but added that members should be co-opted from States without members in the Committee for more effective investigation.
“The violation is not only about regions or tribes; it’s not only about religion and ethnicity. It is also at the State and Local Government levels. Even within a State, we should drill down to know how many people from a Local Government are in a place and why. This is a pervasive violation, and we should not engage in a blame game because all who have had the opportunity are guilty.

Senator Dickson also proposed that a copy of the investigation should be given to the President for implementation.