Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, the President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, conveyed this during a press conference in Owerri.
Iwuanyanwu stressed that the legal action would serve as a means to ascertain whether the federal government's appointment approach adheres to constitutional principles.
However, he said that resorting to legal action would only occur if the federal government failed to address the issue of "obvious inequality and injustice" in their appointments, as previously requested by Ohanaeze.
According to him, “Ohanaeze is concerned about the obvious inequality and injustice manifested in the recent appointment of members of the federal executive council, FEC, All together forty-eight (48) members were appointed and sworn in only five were appointed from the Southeast by the principle of federal character southeast ought to have gotten at least 8 ministers. This action has put the South East in absolute minority in federal executive council.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo stands for equity abd justice. Ohanaeze Ndigbo that believe that equity and justice are fundamental prerequisite for an enduring harmonious relationship in a country such as Nigeria with many diversities. The federal character enshrined in our constitution is a major steps towards the management of Nigerians many diversities.
“We have in the past few years, watched some people in authority deny the Southeast our rights. For example, there is no explanation whatsoever for giving southeast five states only where as other zones have six or seven states. This situation has put Southeast in a very serious handicap. For example many appointments are made based on equality of states. On this premise, Southeast have lost a lot of appointment opportunities.”
He however, said: “Some of the reasons given by some political leaders is that the Southeast did not vote for them during their elections. In the course of the trial by the judiciary, Nigerians will be told clearly whether denial of opportunities should be regarded as legitimate punishment for group who did not vote for a political leader,” he said.
