Ndigbo, has demanded an unreserved apology from Mr. Festus Keyamo, for
dismissing the outrage by Ndigbo over their exclusion in federal
appointments as "mere noise".
The human rights lawyer had while defending the recent appointments by
President Muhammadu Buhari, said those criticising the president "are
political job seekers".
He also said with the appointment of the Group Managing Director of
the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe
Kachikwu, though from Delta State but an Igbo, the Ndigbo were the
greatest beneficiaries of Buhari's appointments so far, and had no
justification to allege marginalisation.
His words: "We, the elite, should not be moved by this noise and
selfish agenda. Imagine a whole ethnic group campaigning for a
position! Initially, they said Chief of Staff, then Secretary to the
Government of the Federation.
"Now, with all the noise they have been making since May 29, imagine
if one person from that region is appointed to that position. That
person will then see himself as a champion of his ethnic group and his
kinsmen will descend on that office in the area of contracts and
gifts".
In a terse response, the group described Keyamo as "a desperate
political sycophant who sees insulting the Ndigbo as the fastest way
to get the attention of Buhari for consideration for a political
appointment".
A statement by the National President of the Ohanaeze Youth Congress,
Okechukwu Isiguzoro, said the human rights lawyer only resorted to
attacking the Ndigbo to gain cheap relevance.
The statement issued on Monday in Umuahia, Abia State, regretted that
"the likes of Keyamo will shamelessly deny obvious truths for selfish
interest and political patronage".
The statement read in part, "Ordinarily, we would not like to take
issues with the likes of Keyamo as doing so will dignify him but we
only want to warn him against the dangers of fighting a whole tribe.
"It is a pity that a lawyer like Keyamo, who should know better, has
decided to see nothing wrong with the deliberate exclusion of a whole
geopolitical zone from the over 30 key political appointments so far
made by Buhari since he came on board".
The OYC, therefore, warned Keyamo to tread with caution over his
remarks on issues affecting the Igbo nation.
No comments:
Post a Comment