Members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), including the leadership of the party and other bigwigs, are at loggerheads over zoning of principal offices of the incoming 10th National Assembly.
Though the National Working Committee (NWC) has not openly made its position known about the regions these key offices are to be zoned to, LEADERSHIP gathered that stakeholders of the governing party have congregated themselves along regional lines, vowing to tear the party apart if the office of the Senate president or that of the Speaker does not go to their respective zones.
It was learnt reliably that while the contest for the principal offices of the 10th National Assembly billed for inauguration in June is still open to federal lawmakers across the geo-political zones, members of the APC NWC are also torn along zonal lines in terms of who gets what.
But some of the party leaders are insisting that since the executive arm of government would be headed by president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and his vice, Kashim Shettima, who are all Muslims, it would only be fair to allow Christians to emerge as Senate president and Speaker of the House respectively.
Some members of the party who are Muslims are angling desperately to become Senate president and Speaker respectively.
In the North West, two Senators, Jubrin Barau (Kano North) and former Zamfara State governor, Abdul Aziz Yari (Zamfara West), are not leaving anything to chance in their bid to become Senate president.
Also, the Senator representing Niger East, Sani Musa, from North Central is also hell bent on clinching the Senate presidency.
In the South, only former Niger Delta minister, Godswill Akpabio, who was also elected to the Senate is in the race from the South South.
From the South East, Senate Chief Whip, Orji Uzor Kalu; Ebonyi state dovernor, Dave Umahi, who was elected last February to represent Ebonyi South, and another Senator-elect, Osita Izunaso, have declared their intention to contest the Senate presidency.
For Speakership of the House, it was gathered that the resolve of one of the aspirants, Betara, to defy zoning appears to have elicited the anger of vice-president-elect, Kashim Shetima and the Borno state governor, Zulum.
Both are said not to be in support of Betara’s aspiration for speakership.
Betara’s anchorman and NNPP representative from Kano state, Abdulmumini Jibrin three days ago, told reporters that Betara who is the chairman, House Committee on Appropriation has what it takes to route his way through even if the APC zoned out the North-East from the speakership contest.
Apart from Jibrin, another two-time member of the House of Representatives confided in our correspondent that the Borno-born federal lawmaker has what it takes to face all odds.
“But we have a nagging issue at the level of Borno state because it is clear that both the vice president-elect and the governor have vowed to stop Betara.
“We know they are not God; they are only afraid that Betara has what it takes to wrest political power from them once he emerges speaker of the lower chamber,” the lawmaker from the South West said.
Meanwhile, a coalition of stakeholders of the APC under the aegis of APC Integrity Caucus (AIC) in the National Assembly and the business community yesterday insisted that the North West must produce the next Senate president.
The North West stakeholders raised the alarm over alleged plot by opposition political parties to take over Kano and the entire zone from the APC
Speaking with journalists in Abuja, the stakeholders expressed worry over incessant calls by members of the opposition parties, especially the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), on the APC leadership not to zone the Senate presidency to the North West.
According to them, it is part of a grand design to deny the zone of a powerful government position so as to dig in, expand membership and ultimately take over Kano and the entire region in 2027.
Spokesperson of the AIC, Hon Musa Ahmed Jauro Dutse, who addressed the press on behalf the group, said the opposition parties were crying more than the bereaved on zoning just to mislead the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and other leaders of the APC into jettisoning the North West for them to overrun.
Dutse stated: “We have uncovered their grand plots to engage in massive propaganda to demarket the North West Zone from the Senate Presidency race because of their desperate and selfish interest in taking over the zone- In the absence of a strong political office holder in the mould of the Senate President-That is why we are exposing them so that our leaders like the President-Elect will not be carried away by their antics.
“The North West gave the highest votes to our party in the Presidential election and that justice and fairness demands that the zone be compensated for the feat.
“Instead, they are busy mischievously plotting against the APC in other to take over the zone in 2027.We must resist them, we must not allow them to succeed in their desperate plans. The North West must not be pushed aside in the race. Rather the zone should be compensated for being the highest voting bloc.”
The integrity group insisted that since the South West has taken the presidency and North East gas the vice presidency, it was only fair to allow the North West take the Senate presidency.
The group re-stated its full support for the candidature of Senator Barau Jibrin for the presidency of the 10th Senate, saying he has the requisite competence, cognate experience and capacity, apart from being the highest ranking Senator among Senators from the zone.
Lukman, Ndoma-Egba Ask Lawmakers To Be Fair To All Zones
But national vice chairman (North West) of the APC, Mallam Salihu Moh Lukman, disagreed with the stakeholders from his zone on the zoning of the Senate president,
He described as insensitive to the Nigerian constitution any Muslim aspiring to be the next Senate president.
Lukman also got the backing of former Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN), who also asked the APC to zone the president of the Senate and speaker of the House of Representatives in the 10th National Assembly to the South East and North Central geopolitical zones respectively.
The APC national vice chairman yesterday called on APC governors, stakeholders and all the party members to prevail on all the aspiring Muslim Senator-elects to drop their ambitions.
In a statement he issued in Abuja, titled ‘Cash-and-Carry Contest for Leadership of 10th National Assembly’, Lukman argued with two Muslims already elected to be sworn in as president and vice president on May 29, any attempt to consider another Muslim as Senate president would promote the dominance of Muslims in the federal government and will be injurious to national unity and peaceful co-existence of Nigeria as a sovereign entity, which must not be allowed.
He pointed out that emerging risks threatening the peaceful co-existence of Nigeria, however manifest, will squarely be interpreted based on the actions or inactions of the political leadership of the country in the persons of President Buhari as the current leader and Asiwaju Tinubu as his successor.
Lukman described as disturbing and highly unacceptable that something as sensitive as electoral guidelines and regulations for electing leaders of the 10th National Assembly will be left to public speculation.
“At a time when opposition political parties are practically taken over by combinations of religious bigots and political opportunists who will go to any length to manufacture lies aimed at manipulating gullible citizens to support them, we can’t allow the contest for leadership of the 10th National Assembly to continue unregulated.
“Everything must be done to mobilise all committed party leaders and members to call all APC elected representatives aspiring for positions in the leadership of the 10th National Assembly to order,” he added.
On his part, Ndoma-Egba enjoined the APC to zone the president of the Senate and Speaker to the South East and North Central geopolitical zones respectively.
He also urged the party to ensure that both offices are occupied by Christians.
The former Senate leader while Speaking on Arise News Morning Show yesterday morning.
According to him, Nigeria survived the anxiety created by the same faith ticket of the president-elect, Tinubu, warning that another of such tickets at the National Assembly may create ripples amongst the peoples of the nation.
He said, “Let me say that there are three perspectives to this issue, the first is the constitution; the second is history, the third is precedent and if you permit me, let me read directly from the constitution because I want to put it verbatim. Section 14 of the 1999 constitution says in sub section 1 “the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be a state based on the principle of democracy and social justice.
“But the crucial one is sub section 3, “the composition of the government of the federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity and also to command national loyalty thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or a few ethnic or other sectional groups in the government or in any of its agencies.
“Now the principle enunciated in section 14 is the elevated principle of inclusiveness, of social justice, of equity. Like I said I was the secretary of the campaign planning directorate of the presidential planning committee. I was out there in the field and one of the major issues we had to contend with was the issue of the same faith ticket of our presidential candidate then and the vice presidential candidate. It was a major issue for us Christians, it was a major issue for us southerners,” he said.
Ndoma-Egba warned that after Nigeria survived the Muslim-Muslim ticket anxiety, the country may not survive further apprehensions.
He said, “It may consume us. The constitution is very, very clear. It must be inclusive. Every section, ethnic, religious, must be accommodated in the governance of this country, in the opportunities and resources of this country.”
He said duty, having been the leader of the Senate, is to remind Nigerians of the history and precedence of the NASS leadership.
“I know that Osita Izunaso was in the House of Reps, he was also in the senate when I was there, one time before he left to become a national organizing secretary of the APC and I heard he is returning to the senate. You also have Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu, who was also in the House of Reps at some point.
“He has been in the senate, I think this is his second term, he is a principal officer, both of them are eligible; they are ranking senators. I don’t have any particular candidate but I just believe that we must stick to the principles of equity, fairness and justice,” he stated.
Ndoma-Egba appealed to the aspirants to the juicy positions from the North to withdraw their ambitions and make the necessary sacrifices for the unity of the country.
Izunaso To Slug It Out With Kalu In South East
Meanwhile, Senator-elect for Imo West Senatorial district, Osita Izunaso, has started consultations to contest the Senate presidency.
He declared himself as the most qualified to occupy the office of Senate president and the most ranking Senator for the South.
Izunaso is set to contest against the chief whip of the Senate and former Abia governor, Orji Uzo Kalu, who declared recently that it was his turn to become Senate president.
The former National Organising Secretary of the APC was at the presidential villa last week where he informed President Muhammadu Buhari of his intention to contest the top job of the federal legislature.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja, Senator Isunazo said it would be proper for the APC stakeholders to consider the South East which had been marginalised and denied a sense of belonging.
He noted that conceding the Senate presidency to the region would douse the agitation for a separate Republic being clamoured for by the masterminds of IPOB.
He said, “The imperative of political inclusiveness and arresting the agitation for Biafra in the South East especially among the young people who have been misled into the nefarious activities by IPOB/ESN support the zoning of the Senate Presidency to the South East.
“It is politically wise to stop the Peter Obi and IPOB/ESN wave in the South East and the best way to achieve this is to have a man from the region in top three political positions and on order of protocols in Nigeria.”
He further noted that based on his experience as former member of the House of Representatives and the Red Chamber, and as former staff of the National Assembly, as well as former member of the APC National Working Committee, he is in the best position to promote harmonious working relationship between the executive, legislature and the APC national secretariat.
EFCC, ICPC Monitoring Dollar-carrying Aspirants
Meanwhile, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday declined to comment on the report that it’s monitoring some dollar-carrying lawmakers aspiring for leadership of the National Assembly.
This followed the allegations of heavy financial inducements by aspirants for various positions in the forthcoming 10th National Assembly, the nation’s anti-graft agencies have intensified efforts to monitor spending sprees by contestants.
A source in the Federal Ministry of Justice told a team of journalists in Abuja yesterday night that “processes have been activated to monitor and track huge spending ahead of the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly “.
This development comes on the heels of reports that vice president-elect, Kashom Shettima and the Borno state governor, Babagana Zulum have drawn a battle line with one of the frontline aspirants, Muktar Aliyu Betara.
Both the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) , according to the source, have been directed to monitor meetings arranged by aspirants, especially with freshers.
The anti-corruption bodies were said to have received an intelligence report that one of the aspirants for the position of speaker has voted $12.5 million (at $50,000 per lawmaker) ahead of the inauguration.
Some of the contenders for the President of the Senate include former governor of Abia State and current Chief Whip, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu; Senators Jibrin Barau (APC, Kano North); Sani Musa (APC, Niger East); and Ali Ndume (APC, Borno South).
Also speculated to be on the list against the ranking standing rule are former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari (APC, Zamfara West); the outgoing governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi (APC, Ebonyi South), and former governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North).
Aspirants for the position of speaker, House of Representatives are: Idris Wase from Plateau State, Makki Yalleman from Jigawa State, Adamu Yusuf Gagdi from Plateau State, Benjamin Kalu from Abia State, Peter Akpatason from Edo State, Muktar Aliyu Betara from Borno State, Sada Soli Jibia from Katsina State, Tunji Olawuyi from Kwara State, Abbas Tajuddeen from Kaduna State and Aminu Sani Jaji from Zamfara State.
The source said, “All processes have been activated to monitor and track huge spending ahead of the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly because there are confirmed reports that some of aspirants who are money bags are already inducing members, especially the new comers.
“This is not good for our democracy in any form. For three weeks now, we have been receiving both written and verbal reports of people spending so much under flimsy guises.
“We even received a well detailed written petition from a Northern state in respect of an aspirant for speakership. You know we don’t act on emotions but we have reached a point that all stakeholders in the security and intelligence community get themselves alerted to the subject matter,” he said.
