Ekiti – Ekiti State on Wednesday, protested allotment of one slot out of about ninety ambassadorial postings of the federal government and called for improvement.
Senator Sola Akinyede (Ekiti South) who made the protest at the Senate screening of additional eleven nominees forwarded to Senate by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, regretted that the ambassadorial distribution did not favour his state.
The senator representing Ekiti South at the Senate complained that Ekiti State remained the only one in the Federation with just one nominee, whereas, some states have four to five nominees.
He further noted that even when he had registered his protest with the presidency and requested that the only nominee from Ekiti Barr. Toye Olofintuyi (Ekiti) be given a ‘good’ posting, he was assigned to Mozambique.
He further cited section 14(3) of the constitution, on Federal Character, to buttress his submission to the Senate committee that his state had been treated most unjustly and unfairly.
Section 14(3) provides that: “The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few States or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies.
Responding, chairman of the committee, Senator Jubril Aminu noted that the Senate was not the right place to channel such grievances adding that it ought to have been sent to the President through the minister of Foreign Affairs.
The Senior Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly matters, Mohammed Abba Aji who was present at the occasion later told Senator Akinyede that his protest was being addressed by President Yar’Adua.
President Yar’Adua recently forwarded the names of eleven ambassadorial Nominees comprising of six career officers and five non-career officers for the approval of the Senate.
Advising the nominees before the commencement of the screening, the Chairman Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Professor Jubril Aminu noted that part of what was required of the nominees was the declaration of assets and security reports from various security agencies.
Aminu also said that the era of “bow and go”, a discretion granted by Senate to former members of the National Assembly who appear for screening was no more.
According to him, “the Senate has not been given credit for doing that. It is now time for us to take our pound of flesh.
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