Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the incoming president, has rejected a call by some factions in the All Progressives Congress (APC) to microzone the senate presidency of the next 10th National Assembly to the country’s south-south geopolitical zone.
Tinubu, on the other hand, argued that the office must be freely allotted to the whole southern area, without giving any zone a preference.
The information was gathered from sources who attended the meeting on Wednesday between the President-elect, the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership, and certain members of the National Assembly.
It was learned that Tinubu categorically opposed suggestions for the Senate Presidency to be micro-zoned to the South-South proposed by some APC leadership members and three South West senators.
According to a trustworthy source who asked to remain anonymous, the President-elect reasoned that since party members had backed the zoning of the presidency position that had brought him to the South, it would be illogical for them to now approve a micro zoning scheme.
According to the source, Tinubu insisted that zoning the senate presidency to the south would give all deserving candidates from the South East and South-South a chance to compete fairly for senators’ votes, similar to how APC delegates selected a presidential candidate from the available candidates.
Additionally, it was reported that Tinubu asked the leadership to change the NWC’s recommendations rather than risk throwing the party into disarray.
The President-elect, in his wisdom, rejected pressure from some members of the party leadership and the Southwest senators for the zoning of the Senate presidency to the South. This scheme, which called for having a single South-South candidate, fell flat.
All of the media speculations that the President and the NWC had chosen South South are untrue. According to the source, “The President demanded that the job be assigned to the South area.
The majority of senators-to-be from the South South zone, along with other senators, reportedly lined up behind Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, who is now the Chief Whip of the Senate and is from the South-East geographical zone, for the position, according to a senator-elect who did not want his name published.
For the purpose of equality, justice, and harmony, more than 61 registered civil society organizations (CSOs) have urged the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party in power, to promote candidates from the South East geopolitical region for the position of Senate President of the 10th National Assembly.
The Coalition of Civil Society Organizations for Peace and Unity of Nigeria, or CCSOPUN, which brought together CSOs in Abuja on Thursday, said that enabling the south-eastern region to choose the next Senate President will help quell tensions and agitations there.
“We are saddened and concerned with the way the South East geopolitical zone is being treated unfairly and unjustly in the political equation of our country,” the coalition’s chairman, Dr. Onwubuya Abraham Breakforth, said in a statement. Nigerians’ divisions have grown and intensified as a result of the results of the 2023 presidential election, especially in light of the allegation that the All Progressives Congress, APC, was given an unfair advantage over the South East presumed winner.
“Consequently, in order to mend the wounds that have been repeatedly blushed, put an end to the South Eastern agitations, and restore stability to the nation.
“We hereby urge the All Progressives Congress, APC, and all opposing political parties, as well as all newly elected and re-elected Senators and members-elect of the House of Representatives, to support the South East Senator for the position of Senate President.
“In contrast to the South South’s single gubernatorial seat, the South East has two APC governors.
“We are bringing up the APC because it controls the Senate. APC ought to prioritize national unity over personal interests. The number of votes from a certain zone shouldn’t matter in determining who will be the next Senate President. You are from South-South, where the Deputy Senate President now resides.