Marginalisation: Southern Kaduna takes case to Jonathan

The Southern Kaduna Elders Forum has met with President Goodluck Jonathan over the alleged marginalisation of the zone in federal appointments as well as location of projects.
SUNDAY PUNCH  gathered in Abuja, on Friday that the Chairman of the forum, Maj-General Zamani Lekwot( retd.), led  other members to the meeting which held at the Presidential Villa, last Monday.
The forum’s chairman who presented the group’s concerns and list of demands noted that since the creation of the state 37 years ago, the people of the zone had remained marginalised.
He said the people of the area had thought the situation would change following the massive support they gave the Jonathan/Sambo ticket during the 2011 elections.
Armed with statistics from the 2011 presidential election results, Lekwot presented a six-page address to the President.
A copy of the address made available to our correspondent, showed that the people of the zone believed they had  not been fairly treated after delivering 608,094, representing 54 per cent of the total votes cast in the 2011 presidential election in Kaduna State.
According to the document, the zone received only 23 per cent of appointments made from the state.
Annex “A” of the address stated that zone 1 (north) accounted for 195,372 (16 per cent) of the vote while zone 2 (central) accounted for 386,713 (33 per cent) of the total votes cast.
People of the zone then queried why, when it came to federal appointments,  Kaduna North, which gave only 16 per cent of the total votes was rewarded with  15 appointees, taking up 50 per cent, followed closely by Kaduna Central with eight appointees representing 27 per cent.
They lamented that Kaduna South, for all it put into the elections was given only seven appointees representing 23 per cent.
Lekwot said, “In zone 2 still, out of the 386,713 votes cast for the PDP in the last presidential election, the votes of our kith and kin in Chikun LGA, was 128,128 and Kajuru LGA, that was 89,184 totalling 209,312 as against the 178,585 of others. Nevertheless, not a single Christian benefited from any federal appointment in this zone which is a shame.
“Out of the 31 federal appointments made in Kaduna State to date, only seven are in the southern senatorial zone which is the only PDP stronghold in the state.”