Ohanaeze said the Federal Government has been unfair to the Southeast in terms of ministerial appointments.
Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, the President General of the Igbo apex socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has threatened to drag the Federal Government to court over alleged inequality in ministerial appointments by President Bola Tinubu.
Iwuanyanwu disclosed this at a press conference in Owerri, the Imo State capital, on Wednesday, October 25, 2023.
Tinubu's cabinet, inaugurated on August 21, 2023, had only five representatives from the Southeast region, which include the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkiruka Onyejeocha (Imo State); Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy (Anambra); Trade and Investment, Doris Anite (Abia); Minister of Innovation Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji (Enugu); and Minister of Works, Dave Umahi (Ebonyi).
Meanwhile, the Ohanaeze leader argued that the Tinubu government treated the Southeast zone unfairly in the distribution of ministerial slots, given that other zones had more representatives in the Federal Executive Council.
“It is unfair for the President to give the southeast only five slots for ministerial appointments while other zones boast of 10 ministers,” he said.
While describing the action as unfair and a contravention of the principles of federal character, Iwuanyanwu appealed to the Federal Government to create additional states in the Southeast to even out the disparity with other regions.
He alleged that the inability of the government to create an additional state in the region is responsible for the underdevelopment and suffering of the people.
In a separate development, the Ohanaeze said it planned to meet Tinubu to ask for the immediate release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
Iwuanyanwu made this known while speaking at a recent courtesy visit to the leadership of the Supreme Council of Nigeria Traditional Rulers, Southeast chapter.
