Federal Character: Reps member says NASS, Executive Arm must work together

A House of Representatives representing Owan Federal Constituency, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere (Edo APC), says the National Assembly and the executive arm of government must work together to implement the nation’s principle of federal character.

Ihonvbere, a member of the House Committee on Federal Character Commission, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday.

According to him, the country is not making enough progress in its implementation, citing inequities in some agencies, ministries, and parastatals.

“Over the years, we have built disparities in, and those who come on board from time to time never tried to resolve them.

“People are appointed from the state; they come to Abuja with an entourage of staff and force them into their agency or ministry even as temporary staff.

“And when they do a so-called replacement, those are the ones they put in there quietly.

“So, I believe we have not made progress, using the constitutionally provided federal character provision to redress the politics in the agencies and ministries.

“When you look at the intermediate, middle-level, lower upper-level, and upper-level positions, I think the country’s leaders have not demonstrated proper commitment to social justice, equity, and fair play.

“And part is that nobody has ever been prosecuted for violating federal principles or needing to balance.

“I am not subscribing to balance for the sake of balance; it must be based on competence.

“I think what I have seen as a member of that committee in the house is a lot of travesties, lot of deliberate abuse of the Federal Character Principle,” he further said.

On promoting accountability and good governance among Nigerians, the lawmaker said inter-parliamentary relations had challenges. According to him, some states have too much power to control their houses of assembly.

“So it’s difficult even to engage their houses of assembly in a democratic conversation.

“But at the level of promoting discourse and the content and context of democratic institutions, the promotion of cooperation between and within arms of government, there is a lot of progress there.

“How we have been able to translate this to generating the nationwide discourse of democratic tendencies is what I think we are yet to do effectively,” Ihonvbere said.

NAN/S.O