As the campaign for leadership positions in the 10th National Assembly heats up, some political associates of the Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan has intensified effort to attract the Senate Presidency to South South Nigeria.
A Southern democracy forum, Citizens Network For Peace and Development in Nigeria (CNPDN), on Tuesday urged the National Working Committee (NWC) and the various organs of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), to zone the Senate Presidency to the South South.
At a Press Conference in Abuja, Francis Wainwei, National Secretary of CNPDN, said by South South leaders were pushing for the Senate Presidency, to ensure equity and fairness in a democratic dispensation.
He noted that the South South Region had been excluded from the political equation of Senate Presidency, since the return of democratic dispensation in 1999.
Wainwei also stated that “currently, Godswill Akpabio, former governor of Akwa Ibom is the only ranking senator from the South South that will be a member of the 10th National Assembly”.
The Bayelsa-born National Secretary of CNPDN, said ” zoning the Senate Presidency of the 10th Senate to the South South zone will foster national unity and engender a true sense of belonging to the people of the geopolitical zone.
He added “it will also drastically reduce the usual acrimony that characterises such struggle for power among the geo-political zones, thereby, reducing unnecessary distractions for the peaceful and smooth take-off of the new dispensation under the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“Based on Senate standing rules, only ranking members of the upper legislative chamber, are eligible to contest for the positions of the President and Deputy President of the Senate respectively.
“The call to zone the Senate Presidency of the 10th Senate to the South South is also strengthened by the fact that the All Progressives Congress (APC) got more than 25 % (percent) votes in each of the Six (6) South-South states, irrespective of the fact that before now, it had been known as the stronghold of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“The electoral contribution of the South South greatly helped the ruling party to clinch the presidency in the 2023 presidential election. It is therefore, necessary for the party to consolidate on its electoral success in the zone by zoning the Senate Presidency to it.
“In the same vein, we are calling on the ruling party to also zone all the available political positions equitably among the Six ( 6) geopolitical zones, in order to strengthen national unity and cohesion”.