The senator representing Anambra North, Tony Nwoye, has condemned what he described as the violation of the principle of federal character in the appointment of ministers, saying the South-East was shortchanged.

Nwoye said this while speaking with Senate correspondents after his motion calling on President Bola Tinubu to shore up the South-East representation in the cabinet was temporarily stepped down to allow Senate President Godswill Akpabio take up the issue with the president.

The senator elected on the platform of the Labour Party (LP) brought up the motion on the issue, with the 14 other senators from the South-East acting as co-sponsors.

President Tinubu left out a representation for the South-East, while the five other geopolitical zones in the country got between two and three more ministerial nominees.

Reacting to the development on Monday, Senator Nwoye said: “I am not happy about it at all and that’s why senators from the Southeast, 15 of us in number wanted to move the Constitutional point of order on Section 14(3) of the flagrant violation of that section.

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“That section points out to the fact that in sharing any position that you must take cognizance of zone, federal character in any thing you are doing.

“Then Federal Character Commission act 2004 states very firmly in Sections 5(a), 5 (b) that in doing any appointment that any minister or minister of state you must take cognisance of federal character or zone.

“South-East zone was not given one person. One person! While other zones were given. Northwest has 3 additional, making it 10. Northeast has two making it eight because they have six states.

“North Central has extra two and added to the six states they have, they have eight. South-West has extra three with the six states they have they now have nine. South-South with two extra now have eight.

“South-East has none and they only gave us based on states. It is unfair. It offends the principle of federal character as stated in the Constitution and the FCC Act.

“That is why we have been angling for a motion on this issue. But the Senate President in his wisdom for reasons best known to him decided that he will go and take it up with President Tinubu privately instead of moving the motion.”

Nwoye, who stressed that the motion has the backing of senators across geopolitical zones, added: “Maybe it was an oversight. So what we are saying is that we are appealing to him (President Tinubu) that is the essence of the motion that was stepped down to reflect federal character and appoint two extra ministers from the South-East to represent the South-East geopolitical zone.

“It is not fair that every other zone in Nigeria has extra ministers but the South-East is the only one that doesn’t have an extra representative.”

The Star