By Uche Amunike
Lawmaker representing Anambra South district in the National Assembly, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah has condemned President-elect Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Party, APC, for their involvement in the zoning of the top positions in the National Assembly.
Speaking, Monday night, during a Channels TV programme, Politics Today, Ubah of the Young Progressives Party, YPP, stated that the president-elect shouldn’t have meddled into the internal affairs of the Senate.
He explained that there should have been proper consultations done as leadership positions are not enforced on people. He faulted the ruling APC for that move.
His words: ‘You don’t just enforce these things (leadership positions) on independent people. There should be a proper consultation. I think the ruling party (APC) did not get it right.’
‘Nobody is having anything against the president-elect, but he (Tinubu) shouldn’t have been part of this in the first place. He shouldn’t have come into this so quickly’, he said.
Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, who recently won the re-election in the just concluded general polls, also condemned the zoning of the senate presidency to the south-south by the ruling APC, averring that the South-east region deserved the position.
He maintained that the South-east region should be represented in the leadership of the country because the president-elect comes from the South-West, while the Vice President-elect hails from the North-east. As far as he was concerned, the Senate Presidency should be zoned to the South-east in order to create a logical balance.
He stated that the Southeast caucus was not consulted before the APC zoned the leadership positions in the 10th Senate and bemoaned that the South-east was being marginalized as far as distribution of leadership positions in the country are concerned. He further said that there were capable senators-elect from the South-east region that could lead the 10th Senate.
He listed the Chief Whip of the Senate, Orji Kalu and a former APC National Organizing Secretary, Osita Izunaso, as senators-elect from the South-eastern region that were capable of leading the Red Chamber.
Senator Ifeanyi Ubah affirmed, that the senators-elect from the eastern region would converge to take a decision on a candidate for the position ahead of the inauguration of the 10th Senate in June.
Hear him: ‘You don’t just enforce these things (leadership positions) on independent people. There should be a proper consultation. I think the ruling party (APC) did not get it right.’
‘Nobody is having anything against the president-elect, but he (Tinubu) shouldn’t have been part of this in the first place. He shouldn’t have come into this so quickly.’
Note that the president-elect, Bola Tinubu has picked the former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio of the South-south region for the position of Senate President and Barau Jibrin of the North-west region for the position of Deputy Senate President. Also on his endorsement list are Tajudeen Abbas of the North-west region for position of Speaker and Ben Kalu of the South-east region for position of Deputy Speaker of the 10th Assembly.
