The Ijaw National Congress (INC) on Sunday demanded equity and fairness in federal appointments under the President Bola Tinubu administration.
Professor Benjamin Okaba, President of the INC, who made the demand in a statement, alleged that the Ijaw have been marginalised in appointments made by the Tinubu administration.
According to him, the Ijaw have no representation in the entire executive arm of the Federal Government except for only one federal ministerial position.
He also alleged that the appointments made so far favour one ethnic group.
The INC leader described the situation as unacceptable to the Ijaw, who he said are major contributors to the Nigerian economy, with dominant population in five coastal states of Nigeria.
To address the situation, the INC demanded the appointment of an Ijaw as Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority.
“We demand without equivocation that an Ijaw person be appointed Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority.
“This is because no Ijaw person has occupied that office since the establishment of organisation in 1955.
“We demand representation on every board or parastatals related to the marine economy in Nigeria.
“We insist that Government should not be exploiting the resources of our land, seafront and territory without representatives appointed from among our people who own the territory.
“We insist that the acceptance of amnesty by our people, which has drastically reduced the multifaceted and multidimensional agitations, some of which occasionally injure the national economy, should not be seen as an instrument of subjugating and cowing the Ijaw people,” Okaba stated.
