Yoruba elders accuse President Buhari of marginalizing the South and favoring the North in his political appointments

Yoruba elders under the aegis of the Yoruba Unity Forum (YUF) have accused President Buhari of favoring the North and Marginalizing the South in his political appointments. Addressing newsmen in Ibadan yesterday after their meeting, spokesperson of the group, Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Bolanle Gbonigi, said they have assessed the Buhari-led administration and concluded that he has not been fair to the south.

"A glance at the table showing key appointments made so far underscores the extent of the marginalisation of the south. The summary of appointment shows that the North West which is the president’s zone has 26 positions or 44 percent of all appointments he made so far, North East has nine positions or 15 percent, North Central has six positions or 10 percent, South West has seven positions or 11. 8 percent, South South has eight positions or 13.56 percent and the South East three positions or five percent.

This brings the total for the North to 41 positions or 69.5 percent while the South is left with 18 positions or 30.5 percent. The last 365 days have indeed been momentous for Nigeria. While the president has made significant progress towards routing out the Boko Haram insurgents and restoring peace in the North East, centres of various other insurgencies have sprouted in other parts of the country, like the South South and the South East, not to mention the new terror posed by the rampaging Fulani herdsmen. These sectional insurgencies are bound to continue to arise from time to time with our present over- centralised, quasi-unitary structure of governance.  

This is why well-meaning, respectable Nigerians have agitated for decades and continue to agitate for a restructuring of the country to achieve true fiscal and political federalism and to enable each section to mobilise and develop its own resources. The president’s recent remarks therefore that he will consign the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference to the archives, and the present posture of his party against restructuring show that they are out of step with progressive thinking in the country”he said

Other members of the group include Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu,  Senator Femi Okurounmu, Prof. Tunde Adeniran, former Lagos State Deputy Governor, Kofoworola Bucknor Akerele , Bisi Sangodoyin, Bolajoko Doherty and Chief Emmanuel Adelana.