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The Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL) has thrown its weight behind the Director of Land Administration in the Federal Capital Territory Administration, Mr Chijioke Nwankoeze, describing an ongoing campaign against him as ethnic profiling disguised as accountability.
In a statement issued on Monday to journalists in Owerri and signed by its President-General, Goodluck Ibem, the apex South-East youth group condemned what it called an “orchestrated campaign of calumny” targeting Nwankoeze, an Igbo professional heading the sensitive FCT Lands Department.
COSEYL said it did not oppose legitimate scrutiny of public officials but rejected attempts to use accountability mechanisms for “character assassination, intimidation or a politically motivated pull-him-down campaign.”
“Why has the office of Director of Lands suddenly become the subject of such feverish activism now that an Igbo professional occupies it?” the group asked. “It is clear that the campaign by detractors is not driven by commitment to transparency but rather an attempt to single out an Igbo public servant for disproportionate scrutiny.”
The coalition noted that Nigerians from different ethnic backgrounds had previously held the same FCT land position without similar levels of public pressure. It argued that the intensity of the current campaign suggested the focus was on “the individual occupying the office rather than the policies and procedures of the office.”
COSEYL cautioned against constructing “a narrative of guilt” before any competent authority established wrongdoing. It stressed that Nwankoeze was entitled to the presumption of innocence and due process.
The group acknowledged that land administration in Abuja involves competing interests and strict compliance with the Abuja Master Plan. It said public officers should not be condemned simply because their decisions inconvenience powerful interests.
“Accountability must never become selective. Transparency must never become tribal. Activism must never become a euphemism for ethnic persecution,” COSEYL stated. “You cannot preach justice while practising selective outrage. You cannot demand accountability while exhibiting double standards.”
COSEYL called on relevant authorities not to succumb to pressure from activists or political interests and urged civil society groups to avoid selective outrage.
The group passed a vote of confidence in Nwankoeze for “the positive things he is doing in the FCTA” and urged him to remain “focused, professional and resolute.”
“Nigeria belongs to all of us. Abuja belongs to all Nigerians. Public office must be governed by competence and law, not by ethnicity, prejudice or the politics of intimidation,” Ibem said. “The era in which an Igbo public servant must constantly prove his innocence merely because he has attained a sensitive position outside the South-East must end.”
COSEYL concluded that it “opposes persecution disguised as investigation” and vowed to continue speaking out whenever “the rights, dignity and legitimate interests of Ndigbo are threatened anywhere in Nigeria.”
