SAHARANEWS – Following the purported zoning of the positions of Senate President and Deputy Senate President to the North East and North West respectively, a pressure group ( Ndi-Igbo Reformed Group), NRG, based in Onitsha has cautioned the political class against heating the polity with selfish ambitions.
According to the group’s spokesman, High Chief Chinedu Agbaeze, it is the turn of Igbo to produce the Senate President for the 9th session of the national assembly.
He stressed that since President Muhammadu Buhari is Hausa and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is Yoruba, for the sake of fairness and equity, a Nigerian of Igbo extraction should be given the opportunity to serve as President of the Senate.
Speaking with a cross-section of journalists, in Onitsha on Tuesday, the seasoned administrator urged the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to be patriotic in their agenda, adding that the unity of Nigeria is not negotiable.
He said, “soon after the successful conduct and subsequent announcement of the results of the February 23 presidential and national assembly elections, returning and new senators commenced high-level consultations and lobbying for plum positions in the national assembly.
” We gathered that the ruling party, APC, with majority in the Senate, may have agreed to zone the position of Senate President to the North East and Deputy Senate President to the North West.
“If it so, it is imperative for relevant stakeholders of the party to re-consider their decision in the interest of nation building.
” The South East has been continually alienated from national polity.
“Igbo is a predominant tribe in Nigeria and as such, should be given a good consideration in the appointment of principal officers for the 9th national assembly”.
The group while applauding the efforts of President Buhari in fixing roads and other infrastructure in the South East, called on the National Chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomole and other APC key stakeholders to zone the position of Senate President to the South East for the sake of peace and unity.
Agbaeze urged Ndigbo to support the current administration in correcting the anomalies of the previous administrations.