By News Desk
A chieftain of the Arewa Advisory Forum (ACF), Musa Saidu, says Nigeria’s south-eastern region cannot win the Senate presidency of the 10th National Assembly because it “failed to learn from its past mistakes”.
Saidu, also a leader of the Arewa Community in southern Nigeria, had this to say when speaking to Newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja.
“I want to say without fear of being wrong that the Southeast has no justification to start asking for the Presidency of the Senate of the 10th National Assembly because it is not part of those who voted for the APC.
“The Southeast can’t be in the race for the Senate presidency because its people didn’t vote APC,” he said.
Saidu was reacting to the South East Senate Caucus’ demand that the APC zone the region’s position for fairness and justice.
“You are talking about fairness and justice when you didn’t even vote for the APC during the 2023 general election.
“Other areas voted massively for the party and the elected president, Bola Tinubu, while you decided to give your votes entirely to the Labor Party.
“How can you go out and say that the president-elect should place the presidency of the Senate in the southeast when you didn’t vote for him?
“Assuming you don’t win the election, would you be in a position to zone the Senate presidency?” he said.
Saidu said the southeast had a similar problem with President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 when he demanded the position of Federation Government Secretary (SGF).
“When they came together to defeat the APC even in the stronghold of the president-elect, what were they thinking?
“The Presidency of the Senate is not free; you have to work for it.
“You are asking for equity and justice, but you decided to concentrate your votes for LP. Is there justice in that?
“I think the zoning of the Senate Presidency to South-South is not entirely a bad idea because the zone did better in terms of voting for the APC in the last election,” he said.
Senate Southeast Caucus Position
Theanalyst.ng reports that the Senate Southeast Caucus on May 7 urged the APC to split the 10th Assembly Senate Presidency in the region for equity and fairness.
Reading the statement at the end of a meeting in Abuja, Ifeanyi Ubah (YPP-Anambra) also urged the president-elect to ensure that the position is zoned to the south-east.
“The incoming Tinubu administration must correct this anomaly by ensuring that the Southeast has a chance to produce the next President of the Senate.
“The president-elect must be sensitive to the times in Nigeria and ensure that the country continues to prosper in the fairness, unity and justice part for the Nigerian tributary (Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba) and geopolitical zones.
“With the Southeast marginalized from producing the presidential candidates of the major political parties before general elections, the only means through which the area can be compensated and given a sense of ownership is for the area to produce the next President of the Senate.
“This will restore the confidence of the people of the south-east and south-south geopolitical areas and indeed of all Nigerians in the unity of the country.”
He added: “The APC must rise above paramount and political interest.
“You must also avoid the winner, accept the whole syndrome and seek ethno-religious inclusion and a strong, virile, united, progressive, prosperous, equitable and just democratic nation.
“The South East has been denied the opportunity to produce the President of Nigeria since 1966.
“The South-South has produced a president for six years and also had a vice president of the Senate in the outgoing administration.”
“The only area in the south that has not been favored is the southeast.
“The Southwest has the president; the northeast has the vice president. It is only fair that the smallest office at this time that can reassure the Southeast should be given the opportunity to be president of the 10th Senate.”
