Abba Hamisu Sani
Africa-Press – Nigeria. Nigeria will have a new National Assembly by June this year. The Parliament that comprises 109 Senators and 360 house of representative members is expected to be inaugurated by the incoming President Ahmed Bola Tinubu who will take over from President Buhari on 29th May.
The struggle for the leadership at the two chambers of the Federal legislature has already begun.
According to some media reports the prominent contenders eying for the President of the 10th Senate include Senators elect Ali Ndume (Borno South), Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Orji Uzoh Kalu (Abia), Barau Jibrin (Kano) and Mohammed Sani Musa (Niger state), among others.
Other positions that will be filled at the National Assembly include the speaker of the House of Representatives, deputy senate, president , deputy speaker as well as the principal offices.
The principal officers are leaders of the majority and minority caucuses, which are largely based on membership configuration in a chamber.
The Senate leadership and Agitation for Zoning
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA is a Civil rights advocacy group .The Association said that the office of the Senate President should be zoned to the southeast.
The group stated this recently in Abuja during a Press briefing.
Addressing newsmen the National Coordinator, HURIWA, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, drummed support for Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, saying that he is the best man for the job.
He said that his group is suggesting that the Senate presidency should be given to the southeast. The reason is because the southeast constitutes one of the legs of a major ethnic group.
“First and foremost I want to state that we are an organization that is not partisan. We are totally indifferent to matters that has to do with good governance in Nigeria. Good governance means we are supposed to have institutions that function optimally and benefit the citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Hence, we need a solidly grounded Senate President and a Speaker in order for those individuals to offer what they call checks and balances to the head of the executive arm of government. We want to warn that the next National Assembly shouldn’t be the kind of National Assembly that we now have.
Whereby the leaders of the legislatures behave as if they are appendages of the head of the executive arm of government, for you to have that you need to have some qualities that must be present in any individual that seats on the sit of the Senate presidency.
We do not want to have a lackey of the head of the executive arm of government as the Senate President, else democracy will not work in Nigeria. So we need to check the qualities of those individuals who have shown interest for the sit.
We have seen a lot of Senators from the North that are campaigning for the Senate. We want to warn that it is not the right thing to do, they are overheating the polity, Nigeria doesn’t belong to one ethnic polity. In order to have a balance in the country, the Senate presidency should be given to the southeast. And the Governor of Ebonyi State is the most qualified person to be the Senate President in our own assessment. That does not mean other contestants are not qualified.” The leader of the Group stated
HURIWA’s also warned against giving the Senate Presidency to a Muslim, stating emphatically that it would be dangerous to toe such a path.
Emmanuel Onwubiko, before this election our organization warned that allowing a party that has the same faith ticket to produce a President and a vice was going to be devastating for the country. Will Nigeria ever accept a Christians christian presidency? Now, there are Muslims that are coveting the Senate presidency.
We are saying once again it is very dangerous for our Muslim brothers to be eyeing the office of the Senate President when there are other prestigious offices to follow like the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Why not emphasize on Quality leadership devoid of region or religion?
To be objective, what Nigerians need at all levels is qualitative leaders that can make a positive impact and address the various challenges affecting its development. Putting emphasis on the faith and region of a leader will do more harm than good to the country at this moment.
Ibrahim Olawale is a Public affairs analyst. He emphasized on the imperative of having good leadership in the National Assembly in his write up Published recently by Vanguard News Paper titled;
“10th Assembly: Why leadership race must be devoid of religious sentiments”
The Legislature as an independent arm of government in a democracy has always been run devoid of religious sentiments due to its unique role of checking the executive arm.
In order to focus on the need for legislators to be patriotic, leaders of the parliament are selected based on ranking and the ability to preside over an array of lawmakers for the good governance of the country.
For some years, this has been the practice in the federal legislature in Nigeria such that it never bothered Nigerians about the composition of the leadership of the legislature.
In the First Republic, the South East produced the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the persons of Nnamdi Azikiwe and Jaja Wachukwu simultaneously, who were both Christians.
After Azikiwe, two other persons from the South, Chief Dennis Osadebey and Nwafor Orizu who were of the same faith also held forth as Senate presidents.
In the Second Republic, Joseph Wayas was Senate President while John wash Pam, another Christian from Plateau State, was Deputy Senate President when the House of Representatives had Chief Edwin Umezeoke and later Chaha Biam as Speakers.
During the time of Ibrahim Babangida when Iyorchia Ayu and Ameh Ebute were senate presidents, the Speaker was Agunwa Anaekwe.
In the current democratic dispensation we had periods where both the speaker and senate presidents or their deputies were of the same faith and everything went on smoothly.
For instance, Patricia Etteh was Speaker when David Mark was Senate President and Ike Ekweremadu was deputy Senate President.
In the current dispensation, both the Speaker and his deputy, Ahmed Idris Wase are also of the same faith, Muslims.
More revealing is the fact that in all the democratic governments in Nigeria since independence in 1960, the Senate presidents had all been Christians until 2015 when Bukola Saraki took the Gavel till now.
This implies that of the 14 senate presidents Nigeria has had so far, only two, Saraki and Ahmad Lawan are Muslims.
This establishes the fact that religion has never mattered in parliament.
This is reinforced by the fact that even in opening prayers of both chambers of the National Assembly, adherents of the two major religions have adopted a common prayer irrespective of faith.
This has helped to unite the legislators to pursue common goals for the greater good of the country.
As the 10th Assembly prepares to select its leadership, it is important to stress that the religion of the leaders should not matter.
What should be of utmost importance is experience, ranking and ability to guide the legislature in a way that will be beneficial to the country.
Luckily there are ranking parliamentarians among those that were elected into the legislature who by their track records will do well in cementing the National Assembly.
Such years of experience, deep knowledge of the legislature and sagacity cannot be thrown away on the altar of differences in faith as the Legislature strives to have the best in the next dispensation to ensure that all arms of government are working for the common good of the country.
This can only be achieved if the legislature is allowed to live according to the precepts it set to forge a common front and move the country forward.
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