Abdullahi Jalo (Chieftain, Peoples Democratic Party), Joe Igbokwe (Spokesperson, Lagos State All Progressives Congress)
I have never liked the principle of federal character. It is an opportunity
 to fill public offices with unqualified people. I mean people who are intellectually
 undeserving. I am sure that I am speaking the minds of many Nigerians. I believe
 in one thing: if somebody is good, don’t play politics with his competence.
We should not sacrifice meritocracy on the altar of federal character. Which
 country has ever developed by doing that? All the developed countries of
 the world have always gone for the best when filling vacant positions. They do
 not care about where the appointee comes from. The principle of 
federal character is retrogressive in terms of the economic development of 
the country. That is why people who are qualified for certain jobs are 
never given the opportunities. On the contrary, those who do not have 
anything to offer are given sensitive jobs. The civil service is where it is today 
because of the principle of federal character.
If President Muhammadu Buhari believes that good people come from a
 particular local government area, let them come and work for the country. The
 earlier we do away with federal character, the better for this great country.
 That is my position.

Rather, I believe that appointments should be based on merit. That is why I 
can’t canvass or speak for it.I don’t believe in the principle of federal character
 when it comes to appointments into public offices.
The appointments are lopsided and they favour the North above other parts of
 the country. This is quite dangerous. It is not wise for any government to ignore 
other sections of the country when appointing people into offices. It is 
unconstitutional and unjust. It is not something that any Nigerian should 
support. I am not a politician and I don’t belong to any political party. But
 I am saying that what is happening is not going to do this country any good.
There is no part of the country that you won’t find honest people, just as there
 are bad people everywhere. Honest Nigerians are not concentrated in any part of 
the country. They are everywhere. You will find them in the North, South, West 
and East.
You don’t roof a house expensively and neatly on one side and go in to
 sleep peacefully. You should be wise enough to cover the other side.
 I don’t agree with the appointments. They are wrong, unconstitutional
 and immoral. It is not supposed to be so. If it is a matter of the 
ruling party, there are members of the All Progressives Congress in all
 the six geopolitical zones.
The appointments do not even reflect the principle of federal character. If
 anybody says that the concept applies to only civil servants, the person is 
not telling the truth. Political appointees direct the civil service and make
 policies for the civil servants to implement. Political appointments are
 for the purpose of running and governing Nigeria. So, it is not true that 
federal character applies to the civil service alone. It applies to any situation
 where people are appointed or employed to run any aspect of Nigeria’s public life.
In fact, it is even more applicable to political appointments than civil
 service appointments because politicians, not civil servants, steer the ship 
of the state. The appointments are very wrong. They are against equity and 
good conscience. Unfortunately, some people do not want to say the truth for
 one reason or the other.
I agree that government should source for the most competent and honest
 people to run its affair. But you cannot claim that honest people are found 
only in one section of the country.
The important thing is to differentiate between political appointments and civil
 service rule. You cannot expect political appointments to reflect the 
principle of federal character. People will laugh at you. They are called political
 appointments because they are political. President Muhammadu Buhari 
is obliged to compensate those that worked for him to become the President. 
So, one should not be surprised if he is not following the principle of federal 
character in making his appointments.
Let us differentiate between political appointments and federal character 
because they are not the same. The principle of federal character is 
a civil-service issue. Political appointments are political because the 
beneficiaries are meant to assist the President. So, if Buhari appoints 
anyone he chooses, nobody can question him. 
The federal character is a procedure that says that all parts of 
the country must participate in government.
If the President leaves office, some of his political appointments would cease to
 be valid. That is why federal character cannot be used as a condition for 
making political appointments. Elected politicians are looking for loyalty and 
other qualities. So, if they choose to appoint those they deem fit in this regard,
 there should be no problem.
The (Buhari) administration has not been adhering to the principle of federal
 character. If you look at the appointments made so far, you will discover 
that they do not reflect the principle.
I advise that the federal character principle should be strictly followed in 
making subsequent appointments. Those who put the federal character 
principle in place as a template for making public appointments know why 
they did so.
It is to give every part of the country a sense of belonging.  The imbalance in 
appointments is fuelling agitations and it is not good for Nigeria.
With regard to Nigeria, I know how the federal character principle operates.
 I also know that there are good people in every ethnic group in Nigeria. 
I know that past administrations in Nigeria tried to do ethnic balancing while 
appointing people into key positions.  But, has it helped this country since 
1960? What did former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s eight-year tenure
 achieve for the South-West? And what did former President Goodluck Jonathan’s
 six years in office achieve for the South-East? Evans Enwerem, Chuba Okadigbo, 
Pius Anyim, Adolphus Wabara and Ken Nnamani were senate presidents. Did 
their emergence build the Second Niger Bridge, the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway
 or the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway?
People from the South-East occupied sensitive positions in Jonathan’s cabinet.
 Yet, we could not see the impact in the South-East. They used those 
positions to enrich themselves, their families and friends. We have 
gang-raped and robbed the nation to the bones, stolen everything in
 sight and plundered our common patrimony for years in the name of 
ethnic balancing.
Having met the constitutional requirements in the appointment of
 ministers and other positions, l support the President to search for the best 
hands anywhere in Nigeria and use them to build this country.  Northerners 
ruled this country, whether as military heads or civilian presidents, for 30 years. 
Today, there is nothing to show for their presence in the corridors of power 
except poverty, misery, confusion and hopelessness.