The 10th House of Representatives Committee on Federal Character has promised to work towards ensuring that the composition of the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government reflects the federal character to promote national unity and put an end to cases of employment racketeering.
The Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Idris Wase, gave the assurance at the inaugural meeting of the Committee in Abuja over the weekend.
According to Hon. Wase, the immediate past Deputy Speaker of the House, “Our Committee will be diligent in its oversight to ensure there is an equitable distribution of employment in the MDAs across the country.”
Hon. Wase, who said that the committee was better equipped with adequate legislative backing to dispense its core mandate, disclosed that the Federal Character Commission (FCC) would appear before the committee this week to brief it on its level of compliance with the equitable spread of employment across the board.
According to him, “We will only do justice and continue to do the right thing. I want to say that we should make this a priority.
First, colleagues, I want to refer you to Section 14(3) of the Constitution. It says 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.
“This is the main thrust of our own committee, and our function does not just end at the national level, and this is where we now have to start our work immediately.
We want to believe maximally that by next Tuesday, we should have another meeting with the Federal Character Commission.
“We have offices virtually in all the states of Nigeria, and they are supposed to be monitoring this particular section that I quoted.
Unfortunately, not much is being done, and that provision is in Section 14(4). It says, ‘The composition of the Government of a State, a local government council, or any of the agencies of such Government or council, and the conduct of the affairs of the government, council or such agencies shall be carried out in such a manner as to recognise the diversity of the people within its area of authority and the need to promote a sense of belonging and loyalty among all the people of the Federation.’
“It means then that the function that the federal character is supposed to be doing is also to be concerned about how government businesses are carried out and how employments are carried out. And this is the mandate that we must ensure this time around that our various state offices carry out such, and we will carry out our oversight on them effectively and efficiently.
“These are the main provisions of the constitution. And I will also read to you, the federal character, as a commission, what they are expected to do for the nation, which we are supposed to oversee based on the constitutional provisions that I just read. It says the Federal Character Commission shall comprise the following members: a chairman and one person to represent each state of the Federation and the federal capital territory of Abuja.
The chairman and members are to be appointed by the president, subject to confirmation by the Senate.
“Colleagues, you know we have a lot of work to do, and I want to plead with you to ensure that we do our best. So I want to believe we are better equipped; we are capable of what is enshrined in the constitution as to what we are expected to do, and that is why I am saying that we have a lot of work to do.
There is no time for us to go to bed, and there is no time for us to rest.”
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