Christian elders in northern Nigeria under the aegis on Northern States Christian Elders Forum (NOSCEF) on Sunday came down hard on President Muhammadu Buhari, describing his appointments as nepotistic.
Punch newspapers reports that the forum was of the view that the appointments made by Buhari, himself a northern Muslim, were unfair to the Christians in the region.
It claimed that for over five years he has been in power, the president had continued to make appointments that “failed to reflect religious and ethnic diversity of the nation.”
There are 19 states in the northern part of Nigeria.
Chairman of the forum, Elder Ejoga Inalegwu, who spoke on Sunday said, “NOSCEF also wishes to state that it has not seen any attempt by the federal government to remedy the skewed appointments that have failed to reflect the religious and ethnic diversity of the nation.
“Rather, we continue to witness the replacement of even the few appointees outside the nepotistic enclave by those already dominating.
“The appointments have been particularly unfair to the northern Christians.”
The forum decried the ceaseless attacks by terrorists in the region and the apparent failure of the Buhari administration to tackle the terrorists and the bandits.
“Rising from our executive meeting held in Kaduna on Saturday March 7, 2020, NOSCEF expresses deep concern over the increasing activities of bandits and terrorists occasioned by widespread killings across the nation,” the group said.
“The most recent of these killings took place in Garkida, Adamawa State, Igabi and Giwa in Kaduna State, and the Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State, among others.
“The failure of security apparatus in place, calls for a complete overhaul of the security architecture, reflecting the diversity of the nation to win the confidence of the people.
“Ironically, almost all the security chiefs are from a section of the country which is worst hit by the criminals who are unleashing mayhem on the people.”
NOSCEF however commended Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State for his efforts at handling the degenerating security situation in the state.
“We commend the governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Zulum, for identifying and standing by his people against terrorism, his openness to all and commitment to good governance,” it said.
The forum appealed to northern state governors to set up a security outfit akin to Amotekun created by their southwest counterparts.
It called for a complete overhaul of the security architecture to reflect the diversity of Nigeria.
The forum also urged the federal government to facilitate the freedom Leah Sharibu, the Dapchi school girl, held hostage by Boko Haram for refusing to convert to Islam from Christianity.
