The all-inclusive government proposal of General Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s president-elect, may face acid test following the current political scenario which saw the emergence of candidates of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the National Assembly elections in all the five states of the South East- Abia,Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo.
With a northerner as President and south westerner as Vice President, at least one of the two next key positions-the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives should have traditionally gone to south- east. Some political analysts are of the view that with no APC lawmaker from the zone, the South-East may likely lose the two coveted positions to other zones if urgent steps are not taken to quickly address what may become political inequity under Buhari’s government which the nation’s Federal Character seeks to address.
It was gathered that Chris Ngige, a former governor of Anambra State and serving senator who lost his bid to return to the upper legislative chamber to Uche Ekwunife of the PDP in the Anambra central senatorial district’s battle, was being positioned for the Senate President before the election.
Solomon Esongban, a Lagos-based analyst, who explained that there was no express rule which stipulates that a party in majority leads the Senate and the House Representatives, said the situation was ample an opportunity for General Buhari to prove to Nigerians and the rest of the world that he intends to govern the country equitably.
“Several unconstitutional decisions were entrenched by the PDP led governments since 1999. The legislators made it standard that only ranking senators and honourable members of party in majority should occupy the Senate Presidency Speakership of the House. Buhari and the APC should discard this arrangement since it is unconstitutional. The South-East should be given their fair share. Ike Ekweremadu, the current Deputy Senate president, is best positioned for the number three man. Party affiliation must not be allowed to hinder his emergence. To me, this is the first test for Buhari”, he said.
BD SUNDAY gathered that General Buhari is also losing sleep over the foreseen political scale and has mandated Babatunde Fashola, outgoing governor of Lagos State, Pat Utomi, a former presidential aspirant under the platform of Social Democratic Mega Party (SDMP) in the 2011 elections and Olisa Agbakoba, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to embark on a wide-range consultation in order to proffer acceptable solution.
Alluding to the scenario that saw the emergence of Aminu Tambuwal as current Speaker of the House Representatives against party’s desire, Solomon Onyibe, a chartered surveyor and prin-
cipal partner, Onyibe Solomon Associates, said Nigerians should allow common sense prevail
rather than insisting on Federal Character, which according to him, has done more harm than good
to the country by paving way for mediocres to occupy leadership positions at the expense of capable individuals.
“If there is anything that I have come to know about Nigerian politicians, is that they know how
to manoeuvre situations. They have done it in the past and they will do it again. But I will personally advise that we focus more on competency rather that talking regional politics. If there are people who can do it well they should just be allowed. I am a bit radical when it comes to the
issue of Federal Character because I don’t believe in it. That is why we have thrown excellence and
intelligence to the dustbin because ‘it is our turn’”, he told BD SUNDAY.
There were also insinuations of the likelihood of Ike Ekweremadu, a ranking senator according
to the senate rule, agreeing with the APC leadership to defect to the party in order to remove any
bottleneck that may occur in his attempt to clinch the nation’s number three position. Ekweremadu, who represents Enugu West Senatorial District, is returning on the platform of the PDP for the fourth time.
But, Monday Ubani, a former chairman of NBA, Ikeja branch, said while decamping to the APC
may be a sacrificial price Ekweremadu could pay in the political interest of his zone, such move
could also attract legal tussles because enraged over its electoral defeat, the PDP could argue in
court that the party was in harmony and consequently ask the court to declare Ekweremadu’s
seat vacant.
Section 68(1) (g) of the constitution provides that: “A member of the Senate or House of Representatives shall vacate his seat in the House if being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected:
Provided that his membership of the latter party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored”.
Ubani, an easterner himself, rather advised that General Buhari should work towards the acceleration of Ekweremadu as Nigeria’s next Senate President, while stressing the need for the
president-elect to avoid listening to those who may want him to make a scapegoat out of the
South-East following the outcome of election in the zone.
