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Tag: Orji Uzor Kalu

  • Creating sixth South-East State will ease marginalisation, says Uzor Kalu

    Creating sixth South-East State will ease marginalisation, says Uzor Kalu

     Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia North) has backed the creation of Anioma from Delta State as the sixth State for the South-East geopolitical zone. 

    He said this will help to address grievances over perceived marginalisation of the Igbo people. 

    Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today monitored by THE NATION, the former Abia Governor insisted that the establishment of a new state in the region was necessary to bring equity among Nigeria’s geopolitical zones. 

    “Of course, Anioma State should be created as the sixth South-East state. It’s the only state that will be viable to be created.

    “Anioma are Igbos, and they never said they are not Igbos. The sixth South-East state should be created, and it should be from Anioma,” 

    The South-East remains the only zone in Nigeria with five states, prompting persistent demands by its leaders for an additional state to achieve parity with other regions. 

    The proposal for Anioma State is championed by Senator Ned Nwoko (Delta North), who described it as a move to “correct historical oversight.” 

    Read Also: Lesson Orji Uzor Kalu failed to learn from Tinubu

    According to Nwoko, the creation of Anioma State will rectify the imbalance in Nigeria’s geopolitical structure, noting that the South-East currently has five states, unlike other zones, except the North-West, which has seven. 

    He further stressed that this disparity has led to an imbalance in representation and resource allocation, with the South-East having only 15 senators compared to the 18 from most other regions. 

    The proposed Anioma State comprises nine local government areas from the present Delta State. 

    Despite the push for state creation, the recent constitutional review committee of the National Assembly rejected all 31 proposals for new states, including Anioma, citing failure to meet constitutional requirements. 

    The committee ruled that none of the requests for new states met the necessary legal and procedural standards for consideration.

  • Senator Kalu mourns victims of tanker explosion, condoles with Enugu govt

    Senator Kalu mourns victims of tanker explosion, condoles with Enugu govt

    Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, representing Abia North Senatorial District, has expressed saddeness by the tragic fuel tanker explosion that occurred on Saturday, January 25, in Ugwu Oyeama, Enugu state.

    The unfortunate incident took place along the Ugwu-Onyeama section of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway when a fuel tanker lost control, leading to an explosion that claimed lives and caused injuries.

    In a statement released on Sunday, the former Abia state governor extended his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims, offering prayers for the souls of the deceased and wishing a speedy recovery to those receiving medical attention.

    Kalu also condoled the government of Enugu state led by Gov. Peter Mbah . He commended the swift response of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), and other relevant authorities for their efforts in managing the disaster. 

    Read Also: Odumodublvck defends Nigerian hip-hop and afrobeat against critics

    He also emphasised the need for road users, particularly fuel tanker operators, to exercise caution and adhere to safety regulations to prevent such occurrences in the future.

    “On behalf of the people of Abia North Senatorial District, our thoughts and prayers are with the families affected by this unfortunate incident and the Government of Enugu state led by Gov. Peter Mbah.

    “May God grant the departed eternal rest and give the injured the strength to recover quickly. I urge all road users to prioritise safety to avoid such devastating accidents,” Kalu stated.

    The former governor of Abia state called for enhanced enforcement of road safety measures to ensure the protection of lives and property across the country.

  • Kalu lauds Ohanaeze Ndigbo’s new President-General Azuta-Mbata

    Kalu lauds Ohanaeze Ndigbo’s new President-General Azuta-Mbata

    Senator representing Abia North Senatorial District, Orji Uzor Kalu, has congratulated Senator John Azuta-Mbata, on his emergence as president-general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide.

    Kalu, who is a former governor of Abia state, in a statement in Abuja, said that he was confident that Senator Azuta-Mbata would bring his wealth of experience into his roles as the president general of Ohanaeze.

    “I extend my heartfelt congratulations to you, Senator John Azuta-Mbata, on your emergence as the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide.

    “Over the years, you have established yourself as a distinguished businessman, politician, and statesman, serving Rivers State and Nigeria with excellence and dedication.

    “I am confident that your wealth of experience and expertise will greatly benefit this role. There is no doubt that you possess the necessary credentials to champion the cause of Ndi Igbo and strategically position the Igbo people within the complexities of today’s Nigerian politics.

    Read Also: Economy: Tinubu right to ignore IMF, World Bank, says Senator Kalu

    “Please know that I remain fully committed to supporting you as we move forward together,” he said.

    The election of Senator Azuta-Mbata, held on Friday at the Old Government Lodge in Enugu, saw delegates from Rivers State unanimously nominating Azuta-Mbata for the position. 

    His emergence followed the zoning of the role to Rivers state after the passing of Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu who represented Imo State.

    Azuta-Mbata, the first Ikwerre native to serve as Rivers East Senator under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, assumes leadership at a pivotal moment for the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation.

    He is also the first Rivers native to head Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

  • Protests right, timing wrong, says Kalu

    Protests right, timing wrong, says Kalu

    Senator Orji Uzor Kalu yesterday described the proposed protest scheduled to begin on Thursday as right but wrongly timed.

    In a post on his Facebook page, the one-time Abia State governor urged youths not to act out of frustration and hopelessness but out of a deep desire to ensure the growth of the country.

    Kalu, in the post titled: “August Protest I stand with you” said: “I stand with you, but with peace through conversations and dialogue without going the path of violence to resolve whatever issues we have.

    “This is a great country, and we are not going to bring it down with any act of violence where discourse can win and bring all of us together.

    “The quest to make Nigeria greater and better for all is a collective responsibility.

    “Having travelled extensively, I have seen what can be considered ideal or visionary in other countries. With our country’s potential, we should not just aspire to these ideals – we should have already achieved them. But what is holding us back?

    Read Also: Kalu: August protests right but wrong timing

    “We are the problem, starting from the grassroots to the top. We the led and leading, yet we are still searching for solutions.

    “I write this with a heavy heart, knowing we are gearing up for another protest. How long will this continue? It has become a tradition to take to the streets at every political turn.

    “Is the August protest justified? Yes, it is. Not just because it is our constitutional right or a democratic norm, but because we need to express our dissatisfaction.

    “However, we must consider our approach. Are we asking questions from a place of hopelessness, frustration, disappointment, and anger, or are we asking with a burning love in our hearts, seeking a better country?”

  • Kalu’s seat: Tribunal orders supplementary election within 90 days

    THE National and State Assemblies Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, on Monday ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to organise a supplementary election in Abia North Senatorial District within three months.

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in this year’s National Assembly election, Senator Mao Ohuabunwa, had approached the tribunal, headed by Justice Akintoye Cornelius, to challenge the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu.

    The PDP candidate alleged over-voting among other contentious issues raised in the February poll.

    INEC returned Kalu elected in the poll.

    The supplementary election, which will be conducted within 90 days, will take place in eight wards within Arochukwu Local Government Area and among other polling units in Ohafia and Isukwuato local government areas where votes were cancelled in Abia North Senatorial District.

    Read Also: I didn’t steal Abia’s N7.2b, says Kalu

    Kalu was declared winner of the election by the Returning Officer, Dr. Charles Anumudu.

    Ohuabunwa described Kalu’s victory as excess electoral fraud and daylight robbery.

    He prayed the tribunal to overturn the INEC result.

    Ohuabunwa’s lawyers told the tribunal that 38,526 votes were cancelled during collation of the result declared by the Returning Officer, Dr. who declared Kalu winner by polling 31,201 votes against Ohuabunwa who polled 20,80.

  • I didn’t steal Abia’s N7.2b, says Kalu

    A FORMER Abia State governor, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, on Tuesday said he did not steal N7.2 billion while in office between 1999 and 2007.

    He said during his tenure, the state had no such fund.

    Kalu spoke while continuing his testimony before Justice Mohammed Idris of a Federal High Court in Lagos to prove his innocence of the allegation levelled against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    Responding to a question from his lawyer, Prof. Awa Kalu (SAN), during a cross-examination, the former governor said there was no way he could have stolen what did not exist.

    “Abia State didn’t have such amount. Even on the day I was leaving, we borrowed money to pay salaries. Abia State didn’t have even a billion naira in any account at the time I was governor,” he said.

    To back up his claim, Kalu, who is currently the Senate Chief Whip, emphasised the difficulties he encountered in running the state with Federal Government allocations.

    He said: “The monthly allocation for Abia State when I took over in June 1999 was N168 million. It was averaging between N168 million and N172 million monthly. The first month that I came in, there was even no money to buy diesel. I spent my own money to run the state for six months.

    “In the Year 2000, the monthly allocation was between N170 million and N189 million. In 2001, it came from about N302 million to about N380 million. I can recollect in 2002 that it was almost the same, and in 2003, when the revenue allocation was changed, we were having about N400 million.

    “The highest money I got as governor was in 2004 when we had about N1 billion. From that time up till May 2007, before I left, what we had was N1.6 billion.

    “Throughout my stay in office, I never owed salary and pension. When I took over as governor and before I left, we moved it up to N500 million. It was from this we were able to do a lot of things.”

    Read Also: Orji Kalu and Ruga controversy

    In his evidence, Kalu had told the court that he was a successful businessman before venturing into politics.

    Speaking on his line of businesses before he began his political journey, he said: “I was running a group of companies under Slok Nigeria Limited. I have a big furniture factory in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. I was also trading in cows. The cows were coming from Chad to Umuahia, the Abia State capital. I also had a vegetable oil factory in Aba supplying to people in Kano and Maiduguri.

    “I was also into shipping activities with major oil companies. We also have a very big corn farm in the East and Bauchi.

    “We were a major shareholder before another shareholder bought off First Bank. In 1994, the then Hallmark Bank had a problem and I later bought the majority stake in the bank. We also had major interests in banks in DR Congo, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia and the then Sudan before crisis set in.”

    The former governor also said he dealt in buying and selling of property.

    Kalu added that he made his statements to the EFCC under bad treatment from some police officers.

    “When I learnt they were looking for me, I called Ibrahim Lamorde (the then EFCC Chairman) that I was in the United States and that I would show up upon my return to the country.

    “But when I returned to Nigeria, they were waiting for me at the airport and they whisked me away to their office. After I was beaten up thoroughly by police officers, I asked them what was my offence and they told me I had been insulting (then) President (Olusegun) Obasanjo. Mallam Nuhu Ribadu (pioneer EFCC Chairman) and Ibrahim Lamorde later came to apologise to me.”  Further hearing in the matter continues tomorrow.

     

  • Senators grill Sunday Dare, Dada, Magashi, Abdullahi

    For four of the 14 ministerial nominees, Thursday’s Senate screening was no walkover.

    Ten others were simply asked to take a “bow and go” — a policy that has been criticized as a mockery of the process.

    Those upper chamber grilled included Major General Bashir Salihi Magashi (rtd), Sunday Akin Dare, Mohammed Abdullahi and Ambassador Zubairu Dada.

    Senator Tayo Alasoadura, Abubakar Aliyu, Mustapha Baba Shehuri, Timipre Martin Sylva, Ramatu Tijani Aliyu, Otunba Richard Adeniyi Adebayo and Mohammed Musa Bello were asked to “bow and go”.

    Other nominees, who also bowed and left were Senator Chris Nwabueze Ngige, Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed and Sa’adiya Umar Farouk.

    The upper chamber adopted the controversial “bow and go” policy on Wednesday as a privilege to former senators, members of the House of Representatives and members of the states Houses of Assembly.

    Some senators were, however, uncomfortable with the policy, which they said did not give them any opportunity to ask nominees questions.

    Before the session started, Senator Bamidele Opeyemi spoke of the need for the Senate to clarify the policy of “bow and go” to Nigerians.

    The Ekiti Central senator said that the clarification was necessary because the media was giving the impression that every nominee was asked to take a bow and go.

    Senator Bashir Ajibola said that there was nothing wrong with the policy.

    The Osun Central senator noted that the rule Senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje quoted on Wednesday to oppose the policy referred to ranking.

    Senate President Ahmad Lawan, in his ruling, said that there was no need to prolong the debate of the policy.

    Lawan said that the chamber had already a standard which should be followed.

    The Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, also questioned the policy.

    Abaribe, who read the constitutional provision that empowers the Senate to screen ministerial nominees before appointment, reminded the chamber that what they were doing was “confirmation hearing and not endorsement hearing”.

    Abaribe said that the Senate should endeavour to go by the dictates of the Constitution.

    The former ECOWAS Monitoring Group Field Commander, Major General Magashi (rtd), told the Senate that infighting among Service Chiefs was affecting military operations.

    He admitted that relationship between Service Chiefs was indeed “not cordial” as expected.

    Senator Orji Uzor Kalu had asked General Magashi how he would address infighting among Service Chiefs if he was assigned the Defence ministry.

    The Kano State nominee noted that infighting among Service Chiefs was unhealthy for successful operations.

    He said: “But, as you rightly said, the operation between the Service Chiefs is not very cordial, I put that in quotes.

    “My relationship is very simple, the creation of the relationship has been in existence since the creation of the office of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).

    ”In the process, all of our operations that would have been conducted internally and externally are governed by the principles of the hierarchy of command.

    “And where the echelon is weak, probably downwards, we will also be weak.

    “Regarding the Service Chiefs, in my own view, we have come to a situation where you find that each commander or each Service Chief is trying to please the nation.

    “In Nigeria today, there is what we call the command structure; the command structure is now seen as a witness.

    “The military is always ready to acknowledge performance. We don’t want to always hear that we have not performed.

    “The theatre of war, I think we encourage it because every day you find one problem either for north-east or the central or anywhere, then we need troops to cover those areas.

    “I don’t think the current structure shows the true reflection of our requirements.”

    Read Also: Senate screens Alasoadura, Aliyu, Shehuri, Magashi

    Sunday Dare, who is an Executive Commissioner of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), dwelt on what the telecommunications regulator is doing to reposition the sector.

    The Senators appeared to have been overwhelmed by the wealth of experience exhibited by the nominee.

    Unlike most of the nominees, Dare was prepared to answer all the questions posed to him.

    The Senate President was the first to ask the nominee how kidnappers could be tracked with their telephones.

    Dare explained what the NCC had achieved since two years ago when he joined the commission.

    Dada answered questions on the defunct Mass Mobilization for Social and Economic Recovery (MAMSER).

    When the Niger State nominee left the chamber, Senator George Thompson Sekiko raised objection that his CV was not clear.

    Sekibo noted that if Dada was allowed to answer his question, he would have cleared some gray areas.

    The Senate President countered that the copy of the CV he had was clear.

    Lawan added that he sympathized with the position of Sekibo.

    Senator Alasoadura (Ondo) was the first to be screened.

    Alasoadura, who represented Ondo Central in the Eighth Senate, chaired the Petroleum committee (upstream).

    Before he was accorded the privilege of “bow and go”, the controversial Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) came up.

    Lawan took some time to educate new senators on steps taken to pass the PIB.

    Lawan recalled how the bill’s duplication that made it difficult to identify which was the correct version.

    On the way forward for the bill, the Senate President noted that there was the need for stakeholders to meet to articulate a comprehensive PIB that the National Assembly would work with.

    Former Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing Mustapha Baba Shehuri (Borno), who read a prepared speech, was asked to take a bow and go.

    He is a former member of the House of Representatives.

    Lawan re-emphasized the fact that the policy of “bow and go” for former MPs was still very much alive.

    Senate Minority Leader Enyinnaya Abaribe made a case for a specific schedule of duty to be assigned to ministers of state.

    Senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje countered that the Muhammadu Buhari Presidency has a clear schedule of duties for minister of state.

    Abubakar Aliyu, immediate past deputy governor of Yobe State, the home state of the Senate President, promised to assist the government to take the country to the next level.

    Senator Kabiru Gaya (Kano South) described Aliyu as “a gentleman to the core”.

    Gaya said that the Yobe State nominee should be allowed to bow and go.

    Senator James Manager (Delta South) promptly seconded the motion that Aliyu should be allowed to bow and go.

    According to Manager, the Senate has a tradition, written and unwritten, some of them not known to the public.

    He reminded his colleagues that “this nominee is from Yobe State and we have a tradition here. I will not go further than that.”

    Lawan described Aliyu as  “committed and loyal”.

    All the women nominees who appeared, Aliyu, Ahmed and Farouk, were asked to take a bow and go after introducing themselves.

    The Senate will continue with the screening today, with the consideration of eight nominees.

     

  • Judge gets fiat to conclude trial as Kalu opens defence

    Former Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu on Monday opened defence in his money laundering trial at the Federal High Court in Lagos.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) re-arraigned him for allegedly laundering N7.65 billion state funds.

    Justice Mohammed Idris, who was elevated to the Court of Appeal, on January 23, adjourned the trial indefinitely because he was not given a fiat to adjudicate on the matter.

    The judge informed the parties Monday that he had been given the fiat.

    He said: “By a fiat, dated July 8, the President of the Court of Appeal has directed that I conclude this part-heard matter. Trial will now run from day to day until we finish.”

    Prosecuting counsel Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) said he was ready, but defence counsel Prof Awa Kalu (SAN) said he was not.

    Prof Kalu said after receiving a hearing notice, he informed the court about his involvement in election petition matters, which are constitutionally time-barred.

    Pleading for an adjournment, the lawyer said he had to be in court to explain his constraints, adding that the casefile was also not in his possession.

    But Jacobs said the former governor should open his defence so that some progress could be made, a submission the judge agreed with.

    Responding to a question, Kalu said: “About few weeks ago, I was a manufacturer of home goods but now a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

    Read Also: Orji Kalu and Ruga controversy

    The senator explained that the home goods included “seasoning and tomatoes” and that he resigned following his election.

    Kalu also confirmed that he was standing trial along with two other defendants, who were absent.

    At this point, the defence counsel told the court that he could not continue with the examination, and sought an adjournment, which Jacobs did not oppose.

    Justice Idris, on July 31, last year, dismissed Kalu’s no-case submission and ordered him to open his defence.

    EFCC said Kalu, whilst being governor between 2001 and September 2006, procured Slok Nigeria Limited, a company belonging to him and members of his family, to retain N7.2 billion in its Inland Bank Plc account, on his behalf.

    The commission said the money “formed part of the funds illegally derived from the treasury of Abia State government and which was converted into several bank drafts before they were paid into the said company’s account”.

    Kalu was accused of collaborating with Udeh Jones Udeogu, Slok Nigeria and Emeka Abone (alleged to be on the run) “in concealing the genuine origin of an aggregate sum of N7,197,871,208.70…”

    The alleged offence violates Section 17(c) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2004, and liable to be punished under Section 16.

    The defendants were also accused of receiving N460 million allegedly stolen from the Abia State government treasury between July and December 2002.

    Udeogu, Slok Nigeria, Abone and Michael Udo, also said to be on the run, were accused of collaborating with Kalu to conceal the “genuine origin” of allegedly stolen funds.

    Kalu and Udeogu, a former Director of Finance in Abia State Government House, pleaded not guilty to the amended 39-count charge.

    They were initially arraigned on a 34-count charge, to which five fresh counts were added.

    Justice Idris, while adjourning till August 26, said trial would hold day-to-day.

     

  • How I brought RUGA to Abia, by Orji Kalu

    THE controversy trailing the aborted establishment of RUGA settlements for Fulani herders in parts of the country may be far from over.

    Senate Chief Whip, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, on Friday said that the apprehension being expressed over the plan by the Federal Government to create Fulani settlements for herders under the acronym name of RUGA was misplaced.

    He told reporters in Abuja that he established a successful RUGA settlement in Abia State when he was governor of the state in 2001.

    The controversial cattle market, he said, is located in Lokpanta, Umunneochi Local Government Area, along Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway.

    The Abia North senator noted that necessity pushed him to pioneer the establishment of RUGA in the state.

    He insisted that the establishment of RUGA in parts of the country was not what anybody should be worried about.

    Kalu said that it was wrong for some people to see cow business as exclusively for the Fulani.

    He said that the settlement he created for Fulani herders has become the biggest cow market in the South east and the South south.

    Cattle business, which he described as profitable, he said, has become the trade of the elite in the country.

    The boisterous senator said the Federal Government should do necessary consultations and engagements with the people before implementing any policy to avoid misunderstanding.

    Kalu said, “When you talk about RUGA, it is not anything that people should be worried about. In 2001 I established RUGA in Abia.

    “In Lokpanta,( Umunneochi LGA Abia North) I built a place where the whole cattle is sold in Umuahia and Aba, in 2001, when I became governor.

    “I built it and they called me I said Umuahia and Aba, we need to de-congest.

    “What they call Shoprite today, used to be cattle settlement if anybody knows that. The same thing with Aba I had an honest meeting with them where I said I was going to provide electricity and water but this is where you are going to be.

    “I procured five Coaster buses and said bring your RUGA, I will join with some of your executives, let us go and see this land. If it is agreeable by all of us, I will call the communities and talk to them.

    “We had meetings and the communities said yes, they took off in Lokpanta.  That is the biggest cow market in both Southsouth and Southeast. It is the biggest cattle market today.

    “This is the issue, the Federal government should always do a wide consultation because if you just go back and put a deliberate policy, I want to do RUGA, people in my village in Igbere do not understand what RUGA is.

    “They will fear and say that they want to kill all of us. Some of us are the largest sellers of cattle. I started selling cows as far back as when I was in the university (of Maidugiri Borno State.)

    “I am still selling cow till tomorrow, because it is profitable. Most of the cattle you see are also not owned by the Hausa-Fulani in our area. Uzuakoli people and the surrounding areas also trade in cattle.

    Read Also: The Ruga conundrum

    “People should have information. Information is power and power is information.

    “They have kept at being critical of everybody, government, tribe, there is too much hatred by politicians. Everything is politics in Nigeria. When a Nigerian cannot pick food to eat, politicians are politicizing everything.

    “Nobody talks about the interest of Nigeria, everybody talks about the interest of his village. It is high time our politicians started being Nigerian politician not the Igbere politician, not ethnic politicians but they should see themselves as Nigerian politicians working for Nigeria.”

    On African Continental Free Trade Area, he said “If we must be in competition on ACFTA, the Federal government must designate Kano, Kaduna, Onitsha, Nnewi, Aba, Lagos, Ibadan, Port Harcourt and make this places special cases that the Federal Government will pump in money.

    ‘It is like what I have said before, the Tradermoni is very good, but it is not the best of options because it is not sustainable. It is a very good programme but it is not sustainable.

    “For me, Tradermoni could have been money that would go into agriculture. You pick four business men in each zone if it is in Kano you tell them to go and get groundnut and cotton, same directive in the respective zones and their crops of comparative advantage.

    “Give them N10billion directly not through the banks. If you give them through the banks, the banks will keep the money.  Give them this money at one per cent interest rate.

    “They will develop agriculture and employ people. Each of them may employ about five to six thousand persons directly in the agricultural sector. This will be a big boost to the economy.”

    “It was very good to have the Tradermoni scheme but if I had the opportunity, I will have the tradermoni but spend half of the money on tradermoni and use the other half to invest in agriculture.”

    On appointments by the Federal Government, Kalu said that it does not bother him who is appointed.

    His interest, he said, is what the appointees have to offer the country and its citizens.

    He added that “for me the Eastern part of this country has been neglected for quite a long but now we have started redressing it. The Second Niger Bridge is coming. President Buhari is doing it.

    Kalu however noted that there might be the need to spread the appointment of Service Chiefs.

    On the alleged jumbo pay for National Assembly members, Kalu said that there was nothing like jumbo pay for them.

    The Abia senator said that had received his June salary to discover that the talk about jumbo pay was false.

  • APC breaks deadlock, picks NASS officers

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) appears to have broken the deadlock over the choice of its remaining principal officers in the National Assembly.

    After several weeks of intense horse trading and media speculations, the leadership of the party on Friday night resolved to concede the position of House of Representatives majority leader to Kano State in the Northwest.

    It asked the Kano Caucus of the party in the House to handle the situation following the tough contest for the position by ex-Chief Whip, Ado Doguwa and Goro Aminu Suleiman.

    The APC pacified the South-East with the positions of Senate Chief Whip and House of Representatives Deputy Leader.

    Ex Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu was given the nod to become Senate Chief Whip, while Nkeiruka Onyejeocha got the backing of the APC as Deputy Leader of the House.

    Onyejeocha holds the record of a fourth term lawmaker and the only female principal officer.

    Some APC senators and members of the House are said to have grumbled over alleged imposition of candidates on them as principal officers.

    They said the party ought to have zoned the positions, and allow each geopolitical caucus to decide.

    It was unclear last night if the lawmakers would accept the decisions of the party or not when the National Assembly resumes on Tuesday.

    Investigation revealed that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC met for hours on Friday night before agreeing on zoning formula and recommending candidates.

    For the House of Representatives, the party zoned the Majority Leader to Kano in the Northwest (being contested by ex-Chief Whip, Ado Doguwa and Goro Aminu Suleiman); Deputy Leader, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha (Southeast); Chief Whip, Peter Akpatason  (Southsouth) ; and Deputy Chief Whip, M. T. Monguno (Northeast).

    In the Senate, the remaining principal officers are Sen. Abdullahi Adamu (North-Central); Deputy Senate Leader, Sen. Ajayi Borrofice (Southwest); Chief Whip, Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu (Southeast); and Deputy Chief Whip, Sen. Yahaya Abdullahi (Northwest) who was the chairman of  the Ahmad Lawan Campaign Council.

    A reliable source in the party said: “The party gave the lawmakers ample time to build consensus and what we did was to design zoning formula and recommend candidates for some offices based on aggregate feelings.

    Read Also: We’ve confidence in Gbajabiamila’s leadership-APC

    “We know that all Senators and House members can be principal officers. We looked at the need for justice, fairness and loyalty to the party. We conceded the Senate Leader to Sen. Abdullahi Adamu because of his loyalty to the party when it was rough and his selflessness in sacrificing everything to lead the Parliamentary Support Group (PSG) which staved off impeachment plot against President Muhammadu Buhari in the 8th National Assembly.

    “We tried to accommodate the Southeast by conceding the positions of Chief Whip in the Senate and Deputy Leader in the House to the zone.

    “Out of the two senators from the Southeast, Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu has had legislative experience more that ex-Governor Rochas Okorocha, who is a rookie senator.

    “It is not an imposition at all. For instance, most APC members of the House are in support of Onyejeocha as Deputy Leader and those in the North-East caucus have reached a gentleman agreement that any office slot for the North-East should go to Monguno. Onyejeocha also represents gender balance among the principal officers.”

    Responding, the source added: “We could not agree on House Leader but the party was able to micro-zone it to Kano State from among the states in the Northwest. It is left to Kano Caucus to choose between ex-Chief Whip, Ado Doguwa and Goro Aminu Suleiman.

    “Fortunately, we have 24 members from Kano; they will go and vote to choose who becomes the next House Leader.

    “We have tried our best as a party, we hope that our lawmakers will see themselves as members of one family and allow these recommended candidates to lead them in the two chambers.”

    The source also admitted that the party has already informed both the President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila.

    “We have consulted these principal officers, “the source added.

    But grumblings keep from some governors, Senators and members of the House of Representatives.

    A ranking Senator said: “It is sad that we were not consulted by the party. We only expected the APC leadership to zone the offices to geopolitical areas and the lawmakers be allowed to choose the principal officers.

    “We are really unhappy that the party decided to impose principal officers on us. Let them gauge our mood, they will see that we are agitated.”

    Another Senator from the Northwest said: “Some experienced hands who can assist Lawan to succeed have been left out. The APC leadership did not place priority on merit, they prefer mediocrity.

    “We have ranking Senators who are versatile with rich legislative background.”

    A ranking member of the House said: “The APC ought to have lived up to its pledge to leave lawmakers to decide House principal officers. This culture of imposition will not help the future of the party.

    “It is a common knowledge that we all prefer Monguno as our House Leader. He suffered with Gbajabiamila in 2015 but they are now changing the narrative by claiming that the President of the Senate cannot come from the North-East and the House Leader from the same zone.

    “We will surely meet on Tuesday in the House.”