Former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has bashed President Muhammadu Buhari for saying that he gave Igbo states five “standing” ministers despite receiving few votes from the South East geopolitical zone.
Buhari made the observation in a Monday interview on Arise TV while responding to claims that he has marginalised the South East in his government.
The president said, “Somebody made an observation that I was not patronising the Igbo from the South East. I told him that when I won the election, I studied the amount of votes I got from all the geopolitical zones.
“I said I got 198,000 from the whole of the South East, which virtually any local government can give me. But I appointed ministers of foreign affairs, labour, industries, and investment, mines and tech; these four; I never knew them from Adam. Ministers of States from seven states of the north are under these ministers. How fair do you want me to be?
“So I threw him away with his paper.”
Taking to his verified Twitter handle, Fani-Kayode, who also served as a Minister of Culture, stated that Buhari did not do the South East a favour by appointing ministers from the region.
He added that the president merely obeyed a statutory provision.
Fani-Kayode said, “Buhari forgets that it is the constitutional right of every state to have a Minister whether that state voted for him or not.
“He did not do the east any favour by giving them 5 Ministers. 5 states in the east. It is their right under the law to have at least one Minister each.”
The ex-minister added, “Hear this: I have been a Minister twice before and I assure you that there is no such thing as a “standing Minister”.
“There are Ministers and Ministers of State but they are both Ministers. Neither of them is standing or sitting and they each have their schedule of duty.”
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