…S/East, S/South won’t be marginalized — APC

By Ugochukwu Alaribe

ENUGU — Enugu West Peoples Forum has lashed out at the South-East spokesman of All Progressives Congress, APC, over his reaction to the comments credited to the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, that the South East and South-South geopolitical zones decided to contest for the office of the Deputy President of the Senate when it became obvious that they were not in APC’s plans for the first seven positions at the centre.

This came on a day the South East zone of APC expressed outraged over the alleged crass and unimaginative propaganda dished out by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, on why he re-contested for his former office.

The group in a statement signed by the National Coordinator, Paul Anikwe, regretted that APC spokesperson in the South-East, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, could not tell the difference between appointive and elective positions in the Federal Government, which Senator Ekweremadu referred to.

Ike Ekweremadu

The statement read in part: “We are surprised that the self-appointed spokesman of the APC for the South-East does not understand the difference between the first seven positions in the Federal Government, namely President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker, Chief Justice of the Federation (CJN), Deputy President of the Senate, and Deputy Speaker, none of which is in the APC’s plan for the South East and South-South.

“For all we know, APC’s official position for these offices are North West for President, South West for Vice President, North East for Senate President, North Central for Deputy President of the Senate, South West for Speaker, North East for Deputy Speaker in addition to the judicial arm of the Federal Government, which is headed entirely by the North East as CJN, President of the Court of Appeal, and Chief Justice of the Federal High Court.”

The group said that such an exclusion of the South East and South-South from these substantive positions, despite the fact that the South East produced two APC members of the House of Representatives in Imo State, and the South-South, several members of the House of Representatives and a senator, could not be compensated by appointive positions, which occupants could be sacked at will.

“Besides, the ministerial positions which Mr. Okechukwu referred to are entitlements of every state of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, going by the provisions of Section 147(1), (2), (3) and Section 302 of the 1999 Constitution as amended”, the statement added.

‘’Likewise, the group also said that the Federal Character provisions in Section 14(3) and (4) of the Constitution as well as provisions against discrimination in Section 42 of the Constitution already covers the primary interest of the zones in the appointment of ambassadors and other appointive positions listed by Osita Okechukwu.

“Therefore, President Muhammadu Buhari would only be deemed to have favoured the two zones if he appoints them into key ministerial, ambassadorial, and other positions,” the group added.

However, APC, South East, in its reaction, said: “For the avoidance of doubt, as at June 13, when this unimaginative propaganda was riled out to hapless and anxious crowd by Senator Ekweremadu, President Muhammadu Buhari has not named the Secretary to Government of the Federation, ministers, advisers, ambassadors, boards etc. On which plank was this propaganda predicated?

“We are, therefore, at a loss, why the senator should choose this auspicious moment to play spoiler game by wittingly or unwittingly throwing spanner on our wheel to clinch the coveted office of Secretary to Government of the Federation. Pundits may grab his unintended headline that we have been settled.”