Ahead of the inauguration of the 10th Senate on 13th June, 2023, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Wednesday made a strong appeal to the All Progressives Congress (APC) Senators-elect to abide by the zoning arrangements as announced by the National Working Committee, (NWC), of the party.
The APC had last month, zoned the position of the President of the Senate in the 10th Senate to the South-South with Senator Godswill Akpabio as the preferred candidate and Senator Jubrin Barau from North West, as preferred candidate for deputy Senate President.
Addressing over 40 APC Senators-elect led by Senator Akpabio at the Aso Rock Villa Wednesday night, President Tinubu made a passionate appeal to all APC Senators-elect to toe the lines of the party’s zoning arrangement in electing their Presiding Officers stressing that, “this is the right thing to do in support of the Renewed Hope agenda” of his administration.
“At this point of our history and challenges facing us as a new administration, all hands must be on deck to salvage the unpalatable situation facing the nation. We must see the situation as a pan-Nigerian Project for the Executive and the Legislature to work out solutions to the challenges of the nation,” he told the Senators-elect.
President Tinubu said “the task ahead to finding solutions to the myriads of national problems cannot come from the Executive arm of government alone but by the working together of the Executive and the Legislature adding that the Senators-elect present at the meeting should reach out and pass the appeal to other APC Senators-elect, who are unavoidably absent to toe the party lines and put a leash on all personal ambition in favour of party programme and national interest.
“Talk to your colleagues that are not here to toe the party line and give the Renewed Hope agenda a chance to succeed. The elephant is big enough for all members and indeed Nigerians to have a share of the Renewed Hope in due course” he admonished.
Earlier at the meeting, which lasted late into the night, Senator Akpabio, once again, congratulated the President on the successful presidential inauguration and stated that since the party announced the zoning arrangements for the leadership of the National Assembly, majority of the party’s Senators-elect led by him and Senator Barau have reached out to other APC Senators- elect and those from the opposition political parties with positive result and pledge of support.
As S/East senators-elect reject Akpabio, insist zone produce next senate president
Meanwhile, the race for presidency of the Senate has taken another dimension as the South- East senators-elect raised the alarm over a plot to shut out the zone.
Eleven out of 15 senators from South East, in a meeting in Abuja, recently rejected the alleged endorsement of Godswill Akpabio and cautioned the President-elect, Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) against injustice.
The senators who were not among the lawmakers that signed the Communique are; Darlington Nwokacha, (Abia, Labour Party)
and all the elected senators from Ebonyi state.
In the communique, the 11 South East senators, after their meeting that lasted for several hours, which was held at the Maitama residence of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah (YPP) Anambra South), vehemently kicked
against marginalisation of the zone.
They posited that since the zone was tactically denied the presidential ticket of any of the two major political parties in the February 2023 general election, the position of the Senate Presidency was supposed to have been given it in the interest of justice and fairness.
The communique reads: “We have observed with dismay the antics of persons with vested selfish interests who have planted themselves around the President, 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 Southeast has been blessed with ranking Senators-elect Including members of the All Progressive Congress (APC) who have the cranial capacity, competence, influence,
experience and political followership to pilot the affairs of the Red Chamber; it becomes imperative that the All Progressives
Congress upholds the Principle of natural justice and equity which it preaches founded on reasons and zone the seat of Senate President to the South East region. “That the President, Asiwaju Bola
Ahmed Tinubu should extend the same democratic opportunity he received from the outgoing administration which gave all
aspirants equal an opportunity to exercise their fundamental and constitutional rights during the APC Presidential Primaries. He should be conscious of the grave implications of zoning and endorsing a candidate from the South-South without any
regard for the Southeast, such move will no doubt serve as a recipe for injustice which will culminate to restiveness.
“We implore the President to be sensitive to the times in Nigeria and ensurethe country continues to thrive on the path 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 low number of votes from the Southeast. The Administration of Asiwaju Ahmed
Bola Tinubu must correct this anomaly by ensuring that the Southeast is given the opportunity to produce the next Senate President.
“With the side-lining of the Southeast from producing the Presidential candidates of the major political parties before the general elections, 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 as this will restore the
confidence of the people from the Southeast
and Southsouth geo-political zones and
indeed all Nigerians in the unity of the
country.
“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, united,
progressive, prosperous, equitable and just
democratic nation.
“Mr President, 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 President for six years and also
had Deputy Senate President In the outgoing
administration. The only zone in the South
that has not been favoured is the South East.
“The outcry of marginalization by the South East and the entire Igbo should be addressed by your … administration rather than aggravating it. The South West has President,
the North East has 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”.
Aside from Senator Ubah who read the
communique, others present at the meeting
were, Senators Orji Uzor Kalu, Enyinnaya
Abaribe, Victor Umeh and Osita Izunaso and others.
