By Uche Mbah
Indications are that the Federal government may finally scrap Federal Character Commission as having outlived its usefulness. Already, government has abandoned the commission, completely ignoring its existence and refusing to appoint Commissioners.
Currently, there is only one commissioner in acting capacity in a commission that is expected to have thirty six commissioners and one representing the Federal Capital Territory, and he is billed to retire by April, after which there will be no Commissioner anymore.
The Current Acting Commissioner is Ambassador Halidu Shinkafi from Zamfara state.
Government is said to be mulling the disbandment of the Commission by April, and there are indications that a bill may be sent to the National Assembly facilitate the scrapping of the commission.
All other Commissioners have served out their terms and retired and there was no efforts to replace them. In any case, Commissioners are expected to fight for their states.
The body was established by Act No 34 of 1995 for the enforcement of the federal character principle of fairness and equity in the distribution of public offices and infrastructure among the various federating units of Nigeria.
Since the inception of the Buhari administration, the mandate of the commission has been violated with impunity. Over eighty percent of appointments under the current administration are from the Northern part of the country, and an estimated half of these are said to be Fulanis.
More than sixty percent of the critical infrastructure are being targeted to be situated in the North contrary to the mandate of the commission.
The commission cannot act because they cannot form a quorum- a situation that plays well into the hands of the Federal government.
This magazine was told that there has been attempts to study the constitutional provisions that established the commission with a view to scrapping-or at least amending it in the ongoing proposal by the National assembly on constitutional review.
