Abba Hamisu Sani
Africa-Press – Nigeria. It seems the ruling All Progressives Congress endorsement of the 10th National Assembly leadership didn’t go well to some members of the legislative body under the Party as they continue to kick against it through various agitations.
It is no longer news that the Nigerian President elect. Bola Tinubu and the National Working Committee of his Party have endorsed the former Governor of Akwa Ibom State Senator Godswill Akpabio as the next Senate President from the South South geopolitical zone with Barau Jibrin as his deputy from the North West.
While Tajudeen Abbas from from North West as the speaker of the house of representatives with Ben Kalu as deputy from South East .
This decision of the ruling party has generated so much heat among the APC legislatures especially the contenders of the Senate President positions like former governors of Abia State Orji Ozo Kalu and that of Zamfara State Abdulaziz Yari who insisted on their right to contest despite the zoning arrangement.
It is also similar at the lower chamber as some of those eying for the speaker of the house like the present deputy speaker Yusuf Wasai and majority leader Alhassan Doguwa insisted on seeking the position.
The controversies surrounding the APC ‘s Zoning
Mixed reactions have been expressed by various Socio Political organizations across the country .
A pro ruling party association, All Progressives Congress (APC) Integrity Group, warned the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, and APC’s National Working Committee not to plunge the party into crisis over the zoning of leadership offices of the federal legislature. Relatedly, South east senators elect caucus, , passed a resolution to reject the zoning of the office of Senate President to the South-south geopolitical zone. They warned Tinubu against encouraging and supporting injustice.
Similarly, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) dissociated itself from an alleged endorsement of former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, for the post of senate president by a coalition of northern groups.
Leadership Tussle Worsens as 68 Senators-elect Reject Consensus
No fewer than 68 senators elected across party lines rejected any consensus arrangement that could lead to imposition of presiding officers on the upper chamber of the 10th National Assembly, billed for inauguration June 13. They took the decision at a meeting in Abuja, which lasted from Saturday night till the early hours of Sunday.At the same time, All Progressives Congress (APC) Integrity Group warned Tinubu and the NWC not to plunge the party into crisis over zoning of National Assembly offices.
One of the 68 senators elected, who came from the North east, told ThisDay newspaper on conditions of anonymity that majority of them had indicated their strong opposition to the planned imposition, and agreed to work towards electing pan-Nigeria senators as President and Deputy President of the Senate.
“All senators-elect from the North-west zone, except two, have thrown their weight behind the planned resistance and pledged to support a leader emerging from amongst themselves. They do not want anybody to be imposed on them. Same with the senators elected from the North east except a few self-seeking elected senators.” He said.
On the issue of ranking, senator elect from North east, who did not want his name mentioned, indicated that only five out of the 18 senators elected were in support of the imposition of Akpabio and Barau Jibrin.
“Only four out of the 15 senators elect from the South east had agreed to the Akpabio/Barau project,” He stated
In the North central, the plot also thickens as many of the senators elect are reacting to the APC leadership plans to short change the zone with the imposition.
They lamented that the arrangement would not do the zone any good, as both Speaker and Deputy Senate President positions have been taken away and proposed to another zone.
“The action will completely distort the equitable distribution of leadership positions across the six geopolitical zones. On their part the South south region senators-elect are divided sharply as to who emerges.“The North Central senator said.
Senators elected from Akwa Ibom have indicated their solidarity to the group against imposing leadership of the red chamber and have pledged their support to the emergence of an independent leadership in the Senate.
Indications from the senators elect were that only about six of the zone’s 18 senators elect might accept to go with the Akpabio/Barau deal however, gathered that only the South-west appeared to be comfortable with the Akpabio/Barau project. Three South west senators were in fact, said to be behind the Akpabio/Barau idea.The senators who were said to be projecting the religion cards in the election of the 10th Senate President, were Opeyemi Bamidele (Ekiti), Adeola Somolon (Ogun), and Tokunbo Abiru (Lagos).
As it currently stands, six of the senators elected from the South-west favored independently choosing their leaders. Another aggrieved senator from the east said, “From the foregoing, the direction the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress and the president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, are going on the issue of the 10th Assembly leadership are crystal clear. They are bent on imposing leadership on the red and green chambers, which is going to be very detrimental to the smooth take off of the 10th Assembly. Many of the senators elected that have signed an endorsement document for Akpabio/Barau said they did it because of the largesse attached to it.
“They have confided in some of us that the endorsement they signed is not binding. Majority have denounced the imposition and have vowed to cast their votes independently according to their conscience and not on anyone’s imposing anybody to them. The senators-elect have all agreed to shelve their party affiliations and work in the spirit of equity, justice and fairness in an undiluted manner in electing the right leadership for the 10th Assembly.”According to one of the ranking returning senators from a North-west, Tinubu does not necessarily need to balance his same-faith presidential ticket with the principal officers positions in the National Assembly.
“Legislative sovereignty, as enshrined in our constitution, must not be hindered by unnecessary interference. The principle of separation of powers should guide us, as it holds that the legislative body will elect or choose its leaders from among themselves, hence external interference in any form especially imposition must be resisted.” He said
A returning senator elected from the South West also said, “An independent legislature has long been endorsed as one of the three pillars of good government, hence, the president-elect must toe the line of democratic ethics and be ready to work with any leadership that emerges as a democrat. He emphasized
Senator Abdulaziz Yari is the former governor of Zamfara state and senator elect under APC .He is one of the contestants for the Senate President positions of the 10th Senate.
Notwithstanding the reported endorsement of Akpabio by Tinubu, Senator-elect Abdul-Aziz Yari told stakeholders that he would take the battle to the Senate floor.
But APC Integrity Group warned Tinubu and the party leadership not to plunge APC into crisis.
The group said in a statement signed by the coordinator, Malam Dawud Mohammed, and secretary, Chisom Nwakanma, that allowing one geopolitical zone to produce two presiding officers of the 10th National Assembly was a recipe for crisis. The group maintained that the position of Deputy Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives could not go to the same zone.
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“Mr. president-elect, how would an average Igbo man feel after he sees evidence of total discrimination? The South-east has been denied the chance of producing the president of Nigeria since 1966. The South-south has produced a President for six years and also had Deputy Senate President in the outgoing administration. The only zone in the South that has not been favored is the South-east. The outcry of marginalization by the South-east and the entire Igbo should be addressed by your incoming administration rather than aggravating it. The South-west has a President, the North-east has a Vice President. It is only just that the least position at the moment that can assuage the South-east is given the chance to be the President of the 10th Senate.
On this note, we have collectively resolved to support South east aspirants of the APC. We remain committed and have since expanded negotiations with other well-meaning senators-elect to rally round the South-east to ensure that justice, fairness and unity of the country prevails”The communique stated.
It added that it would be in the interest of the party to zone the presiding officer of Senate President, Deputy Senate President, Speaker, House of Representatives, and Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives to different geopolitical zones.
It said while the national leadership of the party was yet to come up with the zoning arrangement, the president-elect was also yet to anoint a candidate as a presiding officer.The group, however, stressed that going by the horse-trading at the National Assembly, some lawmakers had been favored for the positions of Senate President and Speaker of House of Representatives.
South-east Senators Warn President-elect against Injustice
The South-east senators-elect Caucus, passed a resolution rejecting the purported zoning of the office of Senate President to the South-south, and warned Tinubu and the APC NWC to avoid any form of injustice on the matter.In a communiqué issued after several hours of meeting held at the residence of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah (YPP, Anambra South), in Abuja the senators-elect from the South-east alleged that the Tinubu administration had begun to work towards marginalizing their zone.
They noted that since the zone was tactically denied presidential ticket by the two major political parties in the February 2023 election, the position of Senate President ought to have been conceded to the zone in the interest of justice and fairness.
Part of the communiqué read, “We have observed with dismay the antics of persons with vested selfish interests, who have planted themselves around the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and have vowed to shut out the South-east from the Senate Presidency of the 10th Senate.“Beyond ethnic and religious considerations, in the forthcoming 10th Senate, the South-east has been blessed with ranking senators elect, including members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).”The communiqué also said, They have the cranial capacity, competence, influence, experience and political followers hip to pilot the affairs of the red chamber. It becomes imperative that the All Progressives Congress uphold the principle of natural justice and equity, which it preaches, founded on reason, and zone the seat of Senate President to the South-east region.
“That the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, should extend the same democratic opportunity he received from the outgoing administration, which gave all aspirants equal opportunity to exercise their fundamental and constitutional rights during the APC presidential primaries. The South-east senators-elect continued, He should be conscious of the grave implications of zoning and endorsing a candidate from the South-south without any regard for the South-east. Such move will, no doubt, serve as a recipe for injustice, which will culminate in restiveness.“We implore the president-elect to be sensitive to the times in Nigeria and ensure the country continues to thrive on the party of equity, unity and fairness to the tripod of Nigeria (Hausa Igbo Yoruba) and the geopolitical zones. The country is already divided along ethnic and religious lines due to the exclusion of the Southeast region, which formed the major reason the APC received the amount of votes (it got) from the South-east. The incoming administration of Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu must correct this anomaly by ensuring that the South-east is given the opportunity to produce the next Senate President.
With the sidelining of the South-east from producing the presidential candidates of the major political parties before the general election, the only means through which the zone can be compensated and given a sense of belonging is for the zone to produce the next Senate President. This will restore confidence of the people from the South-east and South-south geopolitical zones and, indeed, all Nigerians in the unity of the country.”South-east senators-elect also said, “The APC must rise above primordial and political interest and shun the winner takes all syndrome and pursue ethno-religious inclusivity and a strong, virile,
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