Yoruba elders under the aegis of Yoruba Unity Forum have
accused President Goodluck Jonathan of favouring other sections of the country
to the detriment of the South-West geo-political zone in the appointment of top
government officials.
The YUF said this at a press conference it addressed in
Ibadan on Wednesday.
According to the elders, the marginalisation of the
South-West zone in the distribution of political positions is an attempt to
excise the zone out of the federation.
At the conference were Bishop Bolanle Gbonigi, Senator
Bode Olajumoke, Senator Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele, Senator Mojisoluwa
Akinfenwa, Senator Femi Okurounmu, Tokunbo Ajasin, Chief Olu Falae, and Chief
Biola Ogundokun, among others.
The elders alleged that the President’s pattern of
appointments with no consideration for the Yoruba suggested that Jonathan did
not appreciate the contribution the Yoruba people made to his emergence as the
president in the 2011 general election.
Falae, who spoke for the group, said the Yoruba were
sidetracked in the appointment and control of the apex political offices.
He listed the topmost positions in the country as that of
the President, Vice-President, Senate President, Speaker, House of Representatives,
Chief Justice of the Federation, Deputy Senate President, Deputy Speaker, House
of Representatives, acting President, Court of Appeal, Secretary to the
Government of the Federation, Chief of Staff to the President, Office of the
National Security Adviser, and Head of Service of the Federation.
Falae said none of these offices was being occupied by a
Yoruba person, submitting that the absence of Yoruba in the power hierarchy had
adversely affected the zone.
The elders also made reference to the sacking of eight
general managers of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, six of whom were
Yoruba, by the Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Stella Oduah, in October 2012,
The forum stated, “All attempts to meet the President and
discuss the issue at a roundtable were fruitless as he made several unfulfilled
promises to address the issue to date.
“In the days of the late President Umar Yar’Adua
administration when he was incapacitated by illness and there was reluctance to
make Jonathan acting President, it was predominantly Yoruba activists who led
the march on the National Assembly to force our lawmakers to pronounce Jonathan
acting President.
“When he chose to run for the presidency, he got the
enthusiastic endorsement of many Yoruba progressives, especially the leadership
of Yoruba Unity Forum.
“When Jonathan made a gaffe at a campaign rally in Ibadan,
referring to some South-West governors as rascals, he sent a placatory
delegation to Ikenne and the Yoruba leadership rose to his defence in a
non-partisan manner.”
It called on the President to rise to the demands of his
office and rule as the President of all Nigerians rather than President of the
PDP or a particular ethnic group.
“We had tried very hard in the past two years. There are
always positions to be filled. There are going to be vacant positions to be
filled in the future and the South-West should be given consideration,” Falae
said.
Source: Punch
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