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This is why the Federal Character Commission believes every State is marginalized

According to the Acting Chairman of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), Dr. Shetimma Bukar-Abba, by default, every State in Nigeria is marginalized due to the appointments made before the establishment of the Commission.

Bukar-Abba, stated in an interview that, some Nigerians who do not understand how FCC operates thinks they are being marginalized but the Commission is not “robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

“We have concentrated more on issues of employment simply because of historical reasons of people complaining of marginalization, under representation and that explains why the FG put up the FCC with 37 commissioners drawn from the 36 states and the FCT to ascertain the participation of all states of the federation in the Federal Character appointments.

“In that for example no State should have more than 2.5% of the total population of a particular MDA.

“But because of some historical antecedents, you will find certain States having more than 10-15% because of the initial employment being done prior to the appointment of Federal Character.”

He further explained that the Commission gives preference to qualified persons from under-represented States to bridge the gap.

“You close the gap by retirement, death or resignation over time. It is not something that will happen overnight.

“So we came out with a formula of ascertaining that when people employ, they should look at the State which are seriously under-represented and then give them more preference to them.”

In October, Abba addressed the allegations of marginalization in Federal appointments made by the South-East.

He said if accurate data of all public and civil servants across the federation are being compiled and collated through a system with minimal human interference, it would be discovered that a particular ethnic group or State dominates particular Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDA’s), either as staffs or decision makers.

He stated that the perceived imbalance and lop-sidedness would be addressed by a compulsory training programme for desk officers, on how to update nominal rolls on a monthly basis using the Commission portal.

“The training is mandatory, It is an offence if the Federal Character Commission asks an MDA for information or participation in a particular activity to enable it fulfill the requirements of the law, considering the diverse nature of our population and the MDA refuses to cooperate.

“The training of Desk Officers is very important because we also want to have a uniform format of receiving the nominal rolls from them through our own portal,” he concluded.

In May, FCC promised to probe the Department of State Services (DSS), after an outcry of “lopsided appointments” in its last recruitment, which is against the Commission’s protocol.

The Federal Character Commission was established in 1999 to implement and enforce the Federal Character Principle of fairness and equity in the distribution of public posts and socio-economic infrastructures among the various federating units of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

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