Ebonyi State Governor, Francis Nwifuru has called for rotation of the Nigeria’s presidency among the six geopolitical zones in the country for equity and fairness.
Governor Nwifuru who described the constitutional review as a necessity, also called for creation of additional states in the South-East region to address the imbalance in the goepolitical structure.
Nwifuru made the demands when he received members of the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution which paid him a courtesy visit at the New Government House, Abakaliki.
“To end regional squabbles permanently, I urge the National Assembly to ensure marginalisation and structural imbalances are constitutionally addressed.
“Out of the six geopolitical zones in the country, only this region has five states, a development that can trigger resentment amongst the people.
“That the South-East geopolitical zone has not occupied the position of the president since 1999 is an injustice. What is the essence of the geopolitical zone structure if the office of the president cannot be tested by all the zones?” the Governor queried.
He stressed the need to review Section 308 of the constitution to also grant immunity to senate president, deputy senate president, speaker of House of Representatives and deputy, as well as speakers and deputy speakers of states Assemblies.
The Governor renewed his call for constitutional backing to state police, dismissing the insinuations that they will be misused by the state governors.
Earlier, the leader of the team and Deputy Chief whip of the Senate, Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi said the team was in the zone for a public hearing on the review of the Constitution.
“Due to growing concerns that there is need to further review the constitution to meet the demands of Nigerians, the public hearing was conducted.
“I don’t need to tell you much about it because in the previous exercises, you participated actively as the then Speaker of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly.”
He assured that members of the committee will ensure that no section of the country is shortchanged in the process of the review.
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