• Urge APC to Zone Senate Presidency to South-South, Nigeria requires leaders, not dealers 

***Warn against having a Muslim as President, VP, Senate President and Speaker 

By Henry Umoru & Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA- AHEAD of the inauguration of the National Assembly, a group under the aegis of the Leadership Council of the initiatives has asked the Senator Abdullahi Adamu-led National Working Committee, NWC of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC to zone the office of the Senate President to the South-South.

The Initiatives which is an agenda-setting college of former and serving National Assembly members in both the Senate and the House of Representatives has thrown its weight behind the former Minority leader, Senator Godwill Akpabio, APC, Akwa Ibom North West for the position of President of the Senate. 

Addressing Journalists yesterday in Abuja, former member of the House of Representatives and Dean Incorporated Trustees of the Faculty Board of The initiatives, Eseme Eyiboh who spoke on behalf of members of the group said that the National Assembly needs a leadership that will be able to maintain the integrity and institutional liberty of the legislature and not one that will engage in what they described as unnecessary legislative activism against the executive.

The lawmakers while demanding specifically  that the party should support the  Senator-elect, Godswill Akpabio for the presidency of the 10th Senate, said that the country requires a leader and not a dealer, adding that the pendulum of the Senate Presidency should automatically shift to and microzoned to  the South South geo- political zone of the country since all the states in the South East had produced the Senate President.

The group however warned against having a Muslim as President, Vice President, Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

The Faculty Board of the initiatives is a college of some serving and former members of the House of Representatives who are committed to good governance and leadership. It has a retired Chief Justice of Nigeria CJN, Muhammadu Uwais as Chairman and a former Senate President and Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim as Vice Chairman. 

Eyiboh who spoke on behalf of others  said; “We must do all we can to discourage the seeding, the planting of banner peeps in the legislature and the only way to do that is true have a strong leadership in the Senate and in the House of Representatives.

“Nigeria no longer has cubicles of opportunities in the country because we are not having strong institutions but string men.

“We have to change the narrative and interrogate the political trajectory of Nigeria.

“Within the context of social justice, everyone has the right contest for any office but we must also Avery our minds to the fact that we have various primordials. So, it will not be fair to have one religion occupy the four main positions. So, we are appealing to the APC whose chairman and Secretary are former senators and who understand the issues better than us – that though zoning is not a constitutional issue but it is an effort of attempting to resolve the issue of social justice.  Zoning is an initiative adopted to address the issue of perceived injustice in the political equation”.

Eyiboh who noted that where the President is from the South, the Senate President is also expected to be from the South, adding that  the party will be considering among other things what the aspirants brought to the table in terms of votes for the presidential election.

He said, “Mr A cannot score 450,000 votes to emerge as a lawmaker and then for president, he brought 1,000 votes. Then something is wrong.

“We are saying the Senate President should go to the South and when it does, it must not be like an aircraft that has lost touch with the control tower and just hovering around. It must be micro zoned. You will look for someone who has a pedigree. The Senate President issue is not a reality TV show. It is not an all comers affair. We must interrogate the pedigree of the person and the public perception of that person who wants to occupy the office.

“Since 1999 till date, we have given the Senate Presidency to the South East. All the states in the South East have produced Senate Presidents since 1999.

“We are saying in the spirit of brotherhood, since it is coming to the South, it should go to the South South which has got ven so much to the Nigerian federation. They should zone the presidency of the Senate to the South South.

“The presidency of the Senate in a time like this requires someone who has capacity, someone with a pedigree of working with the people and achieving results, who does not suffer from integrity deficit, who has the leverage to galvanize other arms of government for development.

“This country does not require mercantilists and dealers anymore. It requires leaders. Let us say no to dealers.

“It is our opinion that the best we will ever have is no other than HE, Senator Godswill Akpabio.”