Following the debate trailing allegations by the Muslim Council in Taraba state accusing the state Governor Darius Ishaku of marginalizing Muslims in the state, the Executive Director, Transparency and Accountability in Governance Initiative in Taraba (TAGIT) Mr Haruna Bako says the action by Governor Ishaku was to balance the insensitivity and the imbalance in the selection and consideration of political appointments at the federal level.

Bako, who disclosed this at a Press briefing in Jalingo on Tuesday noted that for a Council that has remained silent over the same treatment against the Christian community in the state and country at large by the federal government has no moral audacity to accuse the state government.

He said that “in the first place, all the ministerial nominations from Taraba since 2015 have been Muslims and the Christians did not complain. All governorship candidates of the All Progressives Congress APC in Taraba State beginning from 2015 and 2019 were all Muslims and Christians have never complained.

“Out of 16 federal appointments into extra ministerial agencies (boards and parastatal) only 4 are Christians with all these, no one sees these as a Marginalization against Christians. Right at the top, President Buhari has appointed most ministers who are Muslims even from Christian dominated states, the presidency is completely headed by Muslims. President who heads the executive arm of government, a Muslim, Senate president and speaker House of Representatives, Muslim, Chief Justice of the Federation, Muslim.

“Similarly, heads of security and paramilitary agencies have become Muslims birth right under Buhari administration. The National Security Adviser, Chief of Army Staff, Inspector General of Police, Director Generals of DSS and National Intelligence Agency, Commandant General of Civil Defense, Immigration, Prison Service, Fire Service, Customs Service are all Muslims.

” With the illustration above, the question should be who is marginalizing who?

Mr Bako also caution Nigerian citizens to be weary of those divisive tendencies employed by politicians to achieve their personal interest and advised citizens not to fall prey to the cheap political gimmicks adopted by elites to confuse the citizenry.

” Nigeria is a secular state with two dominant religions. It behoves leaders to take this in to deep cognisance and sensitive to this fact, hence desist from marginalisation of one religious group against the other.

“We advise the Federal government to enhance fairness and Justice in allocation of resources and equity in distribution of appointments to reflect the character of the Nigerian society. This will serve as template for stabilizing governance at all levels of administration.

” Let us therefore, do away with some of these tendencies that can divide us and develop those ones that can hold us together”.