The ongoing confusion over who leads the two chambers of the tenth National Assembly particularly the upper chamber, has continued to elicit criticisms as a group of concerned Nigerians under the aegis of Citizens Advocacy Group has faulted the decision by the leadership of the ruling All progressives Congress (APC) party to choose the Senate President for the 109-member senate.
While describing the action of the APC as an affront on the principle of separation of power, the group which expressed its commitment to democratic ideals and independent legislature, rejected what it called imposition of candidate for the position of the Senate President for the 10th National Assembly.
A statement endorsed and made available to some journalists in Lagos yesterday by both the convener and secretary of the group respectively, Mr Chris Sunday George and Malam Haruna Kabir, declared: “What the party has done is an autocratic imposition which has no place in a democracy as it poses serious danger to independent legislature and an attack on the principle of separation of power.
“We in the Citizens Advocacy Group believe the concerned Senators-Elect should be allowed to make their choice based on the experience, competence and the qualification of each aspirant.
“If you are zoning it to a particular zone of the country, you cannot say this is the person that should be the Senate President from that zone when you have other candidates from the same zone who have expressed interest in the position.
“For instance, the position of the Senate President was zoned to the South-South geopolitical zone, are we saying there are no other candidates from that zone who are qualified and competent enough to become the Senate President? The zone alone has six states including Akwa Ibom where the APC’s anointed candidate hails from; Rivers, Cross River, Bayelsa, Delta and Edo States.
“Why should we exclude five other states despite also having qualified Senators-Elect, both new and returning who have the experience to lead the Senate? Politics of exclusion in a democratic setting like Nigeria would only breed enmity, ill-feeling and rancour which the incoming administration cannot afford in a country already deeply divided.
“We believe the race should be thrown open for all the candidates who have expressed interest from the zone to test their strength and popularity in a free and fair contest and anything short of that would not augur well for the smooth take-off of the 10th Assembly.
“At this point in time when Nigeria is faced with multitude of challenges, we cannot afford to inaugurate a new government and the National Assembly on a shaky and controversial note and we can avoid this by not giving room for imposition as the APC leadership has done.”
While reiterating that the decision of the ruling party was not democratic and well thought-out, the concerned group described the decision as a highly offensive and a decision that must not be allowed to stand for the sake of equity and fair play.
The decision by the National Working Committee of the APC to impose a candidate on the Senate as the President of the next Upper Chamber has been generating an uproar in the polity following the earlier release of the zoning of offices for the 10th National Assembly.
A document issued after the NWC meeting in Abuja had showed that the Senate President would come from the South-South and specifically in the person of Senator Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom).
The zoning formula released by the ruling party saw the “Deputy Senate President zone to the North -West with Senator Barau Jubrin (Kano) as the anointed candidate.
Equally, the speakership of House of Representatives was zoned to North -West announcing Abass Tajudeen (Kaduna) as the preferred candidate while the position of the Deputy Speaker was zoned to South East and anointing Ben Kalu from Abia State as the party’s candidate.
