- … canvasses for Akpabio
A group of former and serving National Assembly members under the aegis of The Initiatives has appealed to the National Working Committee (NWC) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to zone the position of Senate President of the 10th Assembly to the South-South geopolitical zone.
The leadership council of the agenda-setting college of lawmakers also asked the party leadership to consider the former governor of Akwa Ibom State and Senator-elect for Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial district, Senator Godswill Akpabio as the Senate President and Chairman of the 10th National Assembly.
The Dean of The Initiatives, Hon. Eseme Eyiboh, placed these demands on the party in Abuja on Thursday while addressing newsmen.
Admitting that though zoning was not a constitutional issue, the group argued that their demand was in an attempt to address social injustice.
Eyiboh explained that since the President-elect was from the South and the Vice President-elect was from the North, for justice, equity and fairness, the position of the Senate President should be zoned to the South.
According to him, “While we all are canvassing that the Senate President should go to the South, I hasten to say that it shouldn’t be a case of an aircraft that has lost contact with the control tower, we are saying that the position should be micro zoned to the South-south.
Justifying their position the former chairman House Committee on Media noted that the office of the number three citizens of the country is not a television reality show, stressing that to determine the occupant of the office of the Senate President, people “must interrogate the issue of pedigree and the issue of public perception of whoever wants to occupy the office.”
Going the historical lane, Eyiboh noted that since 1999 till date, all the Southeast states have produced Senate President.
According to him, “Ken Nnamani was a Senate president from Enugu, Chuba Okadigbo from Anambra, Evans Enwerem from Imo, Anyim Pius Anyim from Ebonyi and Adolphus Wabara (Abia), ” insisting, “it was time for the position to go to South-south.”
The group whose membership cut across all the political parties in the country also wanted the individual contribution during the just concluded election to be taken into consideration in zeroing down who becomes the next Senate President.
“The last election, how many votes did you bring to the table? The National Assembly and the presidential election took place on the same day. So for a senator to score 500,000 votes for his election and a House of Representatives member scored 450,000 votes, then the presidential votes are 1,800 votes. So if you are looking for a national position, you should be national, in all respects.”
He further said,” The presidency of the Senate at this particular time requires someone who has the capacity and the integrity like former Governor of Akwa Ibom state, Senator Godswill Akpabio.
“The Presidency of the Senate is not a reality show. So it’s not an all-comers affair. We must determine the pedigree and also the issue of the public’s perception of an individual. All we can say is that Akpabio has the capacity and the pedigree to occupy the office,” he said.