10th NASS: Akpabio treads a fine line as the opposition grows.

After weeks of intrigue, the National Working Committee, NWC, of ​​the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, finally announced that it has zoned Senate Speaker South-South and House Speaker North. -west .for the forthcoming 10th National Assembly.

Felix Morka, the APC's national publicity secretary, confirmed the deal in a press conference following the party's NEC meeting at the national secretariat in Abuja.

The party also said it has zoned the positions of Senate vice president in the Northwest and vice president in the Southeast.

Approving a candidate zoning plan by President-elect Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the APC opted for Senators Godswill Akpabio and Barau Jubrin for the Senate lead and Messrs. Abass Tajudeen and Ben Kalu for the House of Representatives lead .

“The NWC has respectfully noted the outcome of the meetings between the President-elect and the NWC leadership. The NWC called for more and better stakeholder consultations needed to ensure support for candidates for National Assembly leadership positions and PCA members across the country.

“The zoning agreement reported to the NWC is as follows: Senate President - Senator South South Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom); Vice President of the Senate - (Northwest), Senator Barau Jubrin (Kano).

'Speaker, North West House of Representatives-Hon. Abbas Tajuden (Kaduna); Vice President (South East), Hon. Ben Kalu (Abia)," said Muoka. The development apparently brought the ambition of Orji Uzo Kalu and governor Dave Umahi from the state of Ebonyi to gain the much revered position in the water.

The duo, which had won on the platform of the APC Senatorial elections, ensured that the Senate President is guaranteed to be the equity because they come from the southeast.

"For inclusiveness, unity of the country and for everyone who is transferred together, the southeast deserves the position, and so far nobody has been able to say that this is the reason why the southeast should not be given position, and I plead for it",, Had said Umahi.

In his part, Kalu had described himself as the best candidate who appeared for the next Senate President.

He claimed that he could unite Nigeria if he had been elected as Senate president. “I am the best of the candidates. I have the ability to unite Nigeria and I am the best to work with our president elect for the good of Nigeria.

"I have the integrity, honesty and experience to lead the Senate," Kalu said.

However, with the ensuing drama, Umahi abandoned moves by Southeast Asian stakeholders to produce the next Senate president.

Lui said Tinubu urged him to resign for Akpabio in the race for the tenth Senate presidency. Umahi explained that he discussed his offer from the Presidency of the Senate with Tinubu and had to allow his request to the party interest.

“Yesterday I saw the president elected with his invitation and he told me that it was already dedicated that I should have kept. So I retired for my brother Akpabio. He is my candidate for consent, "he said.

But Kalu insisted that Igbos had to be compensated with the position of the presidency of the Senate after giving President Muhammadu Buhari the necessary support. However, mixed reactions continued to haunt the ruling party's choice of Akpabio.

Despite his nomination by the ruling party, opposition from various sides is mounting on his path to victory.

Akpabio is not in the good books of the People's Democratic Party, PDP, caucus in the National Assembly, including both the outgoing 9th Assembly and the incoming 10th Assembly. As a result, the pleas of the former governor of Akwa Ibom do not have the expected effect.

Also, Zamfara West senator-elect Abdul'Aziz Yari is reported to have rejected persuasion by Tinubu to step down for Akpabio in the Senate presidency race, insisting that he will continue to contest the position. Yari said it should be based on constitutional provisions and not on anyone's instructions.

He said: "What will happen that day will happen according to the instructions of the constitution and in front of anyone".

Some Northern hopefuls for leadership positions in the National Assembly also kicked the APC's planned zoning program.

For example, Senators Ali Ndume and Jibrin Barau, who run the Senate presidency, said they would contest with or without the zoning deal.

Jibrin noted that the position of President of the Senate requires experience and expertise, not sentiment.

In addition, Kalu, who announced in March that it was his turn to become Senate president, wrote personal letters to NWC members of the APC and all 108 elected senators expressing interest in becoming the next Senate president. Kalu's media office issued an official statement on Monday rebutting reports circulating that elected senators from the Southeast supported him.

The former Governor of Abia State said he offered himself to the Nigerian people, elected senators and the party with a sincere heart, humility and openness for the post of President of the Senate.

"I promise to work for you, to promote and defend the Constitution and the Party, and to cultivate friendly and cordial relations between the Party, the executive and the judiciary.

“One thing is undoubtedly certain, if we work together in unity and in mutual love and respect, we can take Nigeria to the next level of peace, progress and development,” reads the statement. letter from Kalu.

For his part, the Director of the School of Social and Political Thoughts in Abuja, Sam Amadi, affirmed that the South East agrees with the list of principal officers of the National Assembly endorsed by the All Progressives Congress. , APC. Amadi, a public relations analyst, said people in the Southeast were happy and responded to their touchline by saying, "We don't want distractions. We're building bridges."

His comment would come in the aftermath of the 2023 presidential election, in which some prominent area politicians, including Kalu and Umahi, had said that Peter Obi of the Labor Party, LP, was wasting time and that the South East was not he was ripe for the position.

They had insisted that the Igbo were not ripe, mature and ready to produce the president. Their position was that the Igbo should have taken longer to build political bridges.

“People in the Southeast seem to like the APC list of approved NASS CEOs. They say, “We don't want any distractions. We build bridges."

“I think @OfficialAPCNg shows more consideration than others when it comes to zoning. Be quick and be clear on how you want to do it,” Amadi wrote on his Twitter account.

Meanwhile, Onyebuchi Igboke, the Good Governance Advocacy Partnership Project Manager and Organiser, Citizens Bureau, told the DAILY POST that what Orji Kalu and Dave Umahi are going through was expected and should be a lesson. Igboke advised Igbo political elites, including traditional rulers, to go back to the drawing board and devise strategies for involving other areas politically.

He said the duo could pay a price for making statements unfavorable to the southeast.

He said, "Regarding the matter of National Assembly Senate Speaker Dave Umahi and Orji Kalu, even if people make fun of them, to me it shouldn't be about making fun of individuals in the sense that the whole thing it is deliberately marginalizing a particular region.

“It's also understandable to know why some people started making fun of them because they couldn't seem to read the handwriting on the wall or because they were too ambitious or trusted too much the political cliques of the APC. If you remember what Kalu said about Obi before the general election, and even Dave Umahi, they made all sorts of statements that weren't favorable to the Southeast. "At this point some people may feel like they're getting their own piece of what they're doing, but the problem here is that it's high time we came together as a people, we've started to knowing that we had to come as a group.The interests of the group should politically take precedence over our individual interests.

“I don't know why it's always about the Igbos. Given what is happening, it is high time for the Igbo political elites, traditional rulers and all interest groups in the Igbo country to come back to the drawing board and strategize how to participate in the political process.

"Even in the PDP, which has backed Igbos over the years, it's obvious that they couldn't give someone from the South East a presidential ticket. So it's time for them to come back and do some sort of overhaul.

“What happens with Orji Kalu and Dave Umahi, for me, I expected something like this to happen, and it should be a lesson. But people like Umahi already support Akpabio. I believe we can get back together and collectively come up with a new strategy and stop chasing all these things as individuals. Most of us are in desperate need of power.”

However, Civil Rights Realization and Advancement Network (CRRAN) chairman Olu Omotayo told DAILY POST in an interview that Umahi and Kalu do not wield much political power within the APC structure. The legal expert, however, called on the APC to ensure the federal character in the composition of the country's leadership structure.

He said: "I cannot say much about the internal politics of the APC as a party, but in any case, the party is advised to ensure the federal character in the sharing formula of power or in the composition of the leadership structure of that country.

“The duo may not be strong enough to wield much political power within the APC structure due to the fact that there are very few senators of Southeast descent in the APC. So I think there is not much they can do about the difficult situation they are facing.

"I don't think it's a question of recovery time, but it shows that although they are in the party, they don't have the clout or, in the truest sense of the word, lack political power or leadership. influence to influence critical decisions in favor of their area, which is the Southeast.

In sharp disagreement, however, a former media aide to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri, warns that excluding the Southeast would cause more problems for the country. He said the Southeast should have the presidency of the Senate for the sake of justice.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Omokri said Nigeria must be peaceful, stable and prosperous.

practice power sharing.

He wrote: "Yes, the South East has had five Senate presidents since 1999, but they have never had the presidency. The North West, the South West and the South South have. The North West , North-East, South-South and South-West also held the vice-presidency. “If we want Nigeria to be peaceful, stable and prosperous, we must practice power sharing. For justice, the South East should have the Presidency of the Senate. will make them feel part of Nigeria and loved by the rest of the country, and if we don't give it to them, we will be setting ourselves up for more separatist unrest.