Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, representing Abia South Senatorial District, has expressed his discontent with the recent ministerial appointments by President Bola Tinubu. He noted that even former President Buhari, who was perceived as unsympathetic to the southeast, still appointed an additional minister from the region.
He lamented that the current situation is dire, with the southeast having only five ministers for its five states. This, he argued, is a regression from previous arrangements, prompting his constituents to describe it as a worsening marginalization. He questioned the fairness and equity of this situation, particularly when other zones have been allocated six to ten ministers, with some having nine or seven.
He said in an interview with Arise TV from from 4:39, ‘The constitution says that you have to have one Minister per state. Now, from the Obasanjo government, they started having 42 Ministers because they have one more for each Zone. Even President Buhari who did not have empathy for the southeast still gave us one more minister to the southeast. But what do we have today? We have just that five for the five states of the southeast.
So, when our people say this is renewed shege, it means that we’re even worse off than we were before now. And so, if you’re just going to give us only that thing that the constitution stipulates for us, yet in some zones they have 6 to 10 ministers, some have nine and some have seven, you want to ask yourself, is it fair? Is it just? Is it Equitable?'”