Senator Ajibola Basiru (Osun Central-APC), spokesman for the ninth Senate, has rejected requests for the zoning of leadership positions in the 10th Assembly.
According to news sources, stakeholders have urged the All Progressives Congress (APC) to zone leadership positions in the legislature, particularly the Senate Presidency and the House Speakership.
Ranking senators Jibrin Barau (Kano), Uzor Kalu (Abia), Sani Musa (Niger), Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), and Dave Umahi have all expressed interest in the Senate presidency (Ebonyi).
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Senator Basiru told Newsmen in an interview that all geopolitical zones should be granted a fair campaign for National Assembly leadership because they were all allowed to compete freely during the presidential election.
Basiru said, “Personally, I don’t believe that the Senate presidency should be zoned because in the just concluded presidential election, there was nothing like zoning; the leading four candidates came from different parts of Nigeria; two from the southern part – Peter Obi from the South-East, while Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is from the South-West.
“The other two are from the northern part of the country; Rabiu Kwankwaso from the North-West and Atiku Abubakar from the North-East.
“It was a democratic contest whereby people came out from different zones to contest the presidency.”
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While asking Nigerians to de-emphasize religion and ethnicity in democracy, the lawmaker noted that there was no reason for some persons to be denied the right to run for Senate presidency because of their feelings.
Basiru warned that zoning the leadership of the 10th Assembly could backfire, noting that some presidential contenders are still contesting the results of the February 25th election.
He stated, “Let’s also not forget that two of the presidential candidates have approached the court and we never can tell what the outcome will be.
“So, will it not be pre-emptive to zone the National Assembly leadership and if perchance any of them wins, which is a possibility?
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“We should not reduce the office of the leader of the 10th Assembly to ethnic or religious considerations. It should be on the basis of merit and acceptability.”
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