Next President of the Senate, By Yemi Adebowale

The list of aspirants for the position of President of the Senate in the 10th Assembly commencing in June keeps growing. As at the last count,10 senators were already jostling for the plum job. I’m not sorry to say that most of the aspirants are in the race for selfish reasons. Many of them have just been making noise with no clearly defined legislative agenda. Only two of them have been able to tell Nigerians what this country stands to gain if they emerge President of the Senate.

The poor quality of these candidates aside, I’m worried that some senators from the North-east are also in the race. This is an aberration. The North-east and the South-west have already been “settled” in this next federal political voyage commencing May 29 this year. With the South-west producing the President and the North-east producing the Vice President, no politician from these two regions should be contending for the remaining top four positions i.e. President of the Senate and the deputy, Speaker of the House of Representatives and the deputy.

This is the meaning of equity. The Federal Character law in the 1999 Constitution supports this. Our beloved country must be built on equity. We must emphasise equity if we truly desire progress. All the six geo-political zones must get a share of the cake. Those who argue that the Senate President’s job should go to the best hand are just jokers. There is no geo-political zone without high quality lawmakers.

The baloney that happened in 2019 when the South-west produced the Vice President and Speaker must not be allowed again. That was injustice to the rest of the country. Forces of good must ensure that this injustice is not allowed to persist. The ruling APC must uphold its principle of zoning and share the remaining top four positions to the South-east, South-south, North-west and North-central. Aspirants from the North-east and South-west must be forced to perish their ambitions. This is the way forward for our country.

Source: First published in Thisday Newspaper