It’s regrettable S/East was sidelined in service chiefs appointment- Opia

Apparently not satisfied with the trend of appointments into federal offices so far by President Muhammadu Buhari, especially with the Igbos being sidelined in the present administration, Hon Opia Goodluck Nanah, former speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, now representing the Ohaji/Egbema/Oguta/Orlu West federal constituency in the House of Representatives frowns on the development, saying it is high time Igbos speak up against marginalization. He also advised that the All Progressives Congress should not allow their party problems to disturb the smooth administration of the national assembly in this interview with CHRIS EMETOH, in Abuja. Excerpts:
President Buhari recently appointed the service chiefs which to many Igbo did not reflect the Federal Character principles as no one from the South East region was among. What’s your reaction?
Well, it is good that finally President Muhammadu Buhari has started taking actions in terms of appointment of service chiefs. l want to believe that these appointments, which to me is supposed to inject new blood into the security system and help in bringing to an end the security challenges in the country. In the West, there is incessant armed robbery, in the South-South and South East militancy and incidences of kidnapping are rampant and the insurgency in North has been on for some times now. Security problem in the country is a major problem that requires serious attention and I am glad the President has taken off with the appointment of service chiefs.
Perhaps, what is regrettable however is the fact that the Igbo nation-the South East extraction was not in any form considered in the current appointment of service chiefs- which is the police, army, navy, air force, and so forth, which is very unfortunate. Already, you have an acting Director General of the State Security Service who also is not of Igbo extraction. It is obvious that the Igbo nation is cut out to be excluded completely in this administration in terms of appointment into strategic positions.
I do hope, however, that this is properly taken note of and that serious efforts are made subsequently to address the matter and I want to caution that in subsequent appointments, this administration should carry the Igbos along. We don’t need to tell anybody that as a tribe, and a people, the Igbos are entitled to vote during elections for any candidate of their choice and any political party of their choice and that choice cannot exclude them from benefitting from the administration when a new government comes on stream like we have now.
I will advice people in government to put behind them the problems of political parties and problems of elections and move into governance, and the governance should be for all. Like the President said on the day of his inauguration that he belongs to all, we want to see this reflected in his actions, policies and programmes of his government.

What is your advice to the zone and people that were not captured in the appointments made so far?
The Igbo people are expectant, they are part of this country, and they are paying their dues in various ways in addition to contributing to the peace and development of this country. It is expected that the Igbos should also benefit from developments in this country. The Igbo are qualified in all sectors to occupy positions of responsibilities. The advice, therefore, is for them to remain calm and be hopeful because l, want to believe that what you have now may have been a slip that will definitely be corrected.
However, the Igbos should not keep quiet they must raised their voices to let everybody know that we are part and parcel of this country and l believe that they constitute a major tribe in this country and are everywhere because wherever you go you find the Igbos. Therefore, such an important tribe cannot be ignored in the scheme of things. We cannot continue to keep quiet but should continue to be peaceful, non-violent and we must raise our voice when it is necessary, and the time to raise the voice is now.

Before the House of Representatives went on recess there was leadership tussle because the governing All Progressives Congress insisted that the party is supreme and that its decisions should be respected. Will that be the position of the House when it resumes on Tuesday?
I am not a member of the APC, l belongs to the PDP extraction and in the PDP we are organised and we harmonize our things peacefully and amicably without any rancour. The APC, to me is yet to see itself as a political party. Don’t forget that what you have in the APC is an amalgam of different political parties, people from different backgrounds and ideologies. They are yet to be seen to be working together as political party, and that is the problem. The ANPP, ACN, CPC and others are all strange bedfellows, everyone with its orientation, terms and objectives which are yet to be consolidated and consummated. We don’t have such problem in the PDP.
The unfortunate thing is that the problem in the APC has been allowed to creep into the national assembly and you were all witnesses to the shameful drama that took place on the floor of the House of Representatives, which was most unfortunate because it happened at such an early time in the life of the 8th parliament.
It shouldn’t be so that a party is so supreme that a political party can from outside decide the leadership of the national assembly. A parliament is an independent arm of government and should decide the ways and means of running the place. It is not true that the party is supreme to the extent that the party will sit at home and dictate the running of the national assembly.
The APC should realise that the PDP had been a ruling party in this country for 16 years and there was no such party dictatorship. In the previous dispensation, speakers of the House of Representatives were never imposed on the House as the APC glaringly attempted to do. So, we in the PDP have been able to harmonise our leadership and we are waiting for the resumption of the House.
Though the APC is still in trouble l do not think their problems should be allowed to weigh us down, to continue to distract us, we are here representing the country, and not a political party. If a political party has a problem, that party should keep such problem in their party secretariat and allow us to do our bit here in the national assembly. I can assure you that as soon as we resume, we will encourage the progressives minded persons in the APC to keep the party problem behind and move ahead.