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Ozekhome Critiques Tinubu’s Ministerial List for Violating Federal Character Principle

Published by Tope Fakinlede on October 28th, 2024.

Ozekhome Critiques Tinubu’s Ministerial List for Violating Federal Character Principle

Constitutional lawyer Prof. Mike Ozekhome (SAN) has criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s latest ministerial nominations, arguing that they significantly violate the federal character principle.

Ozekhome pointed out that the appointments appear to be mere tokenism, stating that many of the current ministers have underperformed. He suggested that the recent restructuring of ministries lacked meaningful impact, describing it as superficial.

In an interview with The Guardian, Ozekhome accused President Tinubu of perpetuating the non-compliance legacy of former President Muhammadu Buhari concerning federal appointments aimed at fostering national unity and social justice. However, he did commend the president for consolidating all development commissions under one ministry.

He noted, “In the new appointments, three ministers hail from Ogun State, which has already produced the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun. This means that in a nation of 236 million people with 36 states and 774 local councils, Ogun State—one of the smallest—has four ministers, while larger states may only have a minister of state. This contradicts the constitutional provisions outlined in Sections 14 (1), 14 (3), 153, and 7 (1) of the 1999 Constitution.”

Ozekhome emphasized that the new list violates these constitutional sections and criticized the superficial nature of the recent ministry restructuring. He acknowledged, however, that the reorganization of the Niger Delta ministry was a positive step, as it unified various regional development commissions under one umbrella.