Buhari Violating 'federal Character' In Interior Ministry Appointments

President Muhammadu Buhari is being accused of violating the federal character principle in a string of recent appointments at the Federal Ministry of Interior, SIGNAL can report.

The Presidency on Tuesday announced the appointments of Mr Ahmed Ja’afaru as new Controller-General of the Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS) and Mohammed Babandede as new Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).

Following the announcement of the appointments on Tuesday, civil servants in the Interior Ministry are said to be unhappy and grumbling about the appointments, which they say are in clear violation of Nigeria’s federal character principle that guides geo-political composition and appointments into the Nigerian civil service.

A top civil service source who did not want to be named told SIGNAL on Tuesday that the appointments were in contravention of Nigeria’s Federal Character Act. “Look, we know the kind of country that Nigeria is and that is why the federal character principle exists. You can’t have the Minister of Interior from the North, the Controller-General of Prisons from the North, the Commandant-General of NSCDC from the North and the Comptroller-General of Immigrations from the North all at the same time. Is it that there are no qualified people from other parts of the country? This is unacceptable. It is morally obscene.”

Under President Muhammadu Buhari, the Nigeria Ministry of Interior is organized around five key agencies; the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), the Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS), the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the Federal Fire Service (FFS) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). In addition to these five agencies, the Nigeria Civil Defence, Immigration and Prisons Service Board exists and is headed by the Minister of Interior.

As it currently stands, Ahmed Ja’afaru, the Controller-General of the Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS); Mohammed Babandede, the Comptroller-General the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS); Abdullahi Muhammadu the Commandant-General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) and Joseph Garba Anebi, the Comptroller-General of the Federal Fire Service as well as their overall boss, the Minister of Interior, Lt. General Abdulrahman Damazzau (rtd) are all from the Northern part of Nigeria.

In 2014, former President Jonathan appointed Dr Peter Ezenwa Ekpendu, mni as substantive Controller-General of the Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS). Ekpendu was appointed following the retirement of the former Controller-General of Prisons, Mr Zakari O. Ibrahim. NAN reports on Tuesday that Ekpendu retired from service on May 17, 2016 after the mandatory 35 years in service.