By Yekeen Nurudeen

One of Nigeria’s opposition parties, United Progressive Party, UPP, has expressed displeasure with what it called lopsidedness in the appointment of Nigerians into critical public offices by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The party lamented that the provision of Federal Character in the Nigerian Constitution has been brazenly breached by the President in all the appointments made so far.

These were contained in a communique issued at the end of its National Executive Committee, NEC meeting held in Abuja on Wednesday signed by the National President, Chekwas Okorie and National Secretary Sadeeq Masalla respectively.

“NEC is not pleased with lopsidedness in the appointment of Nigerians into critical Public Offices by President Muhammadu Buhari. The Federal Character provision in the Nigerian Constitution has been brazenly breached. This attitude of government cannot encourage the growth of nationhood and patriotism,” the communique read.

The party, while x-raying the state of the nation also bemoaned the slow pace of governance under President Buhari noting that Nigerians have been undergoing severe economic difficulties.

“Instead of creating new jobs for the teeming unemployed Nigerians, several jobs that existed have been lost thereby putting more people in the job market and many manufacturing as well as Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, SMEs, are shutting down in large numbers,” it lamented.

It urged the governments at all levels to implement full payment of internal debts including debt owed to workers and pensioners as a means of reflating the economy and increasing productivity.

“Contractors who have earned certificates for jobs done must be paid their legitimate earnings” it added.

The UPP whose National Chairman also contested the 2015 general elections called President Buhari and the National Assembly to implement as a matter of urgent national importance the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference which it noted cost Nigerian tax payers more than N7 billion to hold.