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Senate leadership: Don’t copy Buhari to snub Ndigbo, S’East lawmakers warn Tinubu
Senators from the South East, on Sunday, passed a resolution rejecting the purported zoning of the office of Senate President to the South South, and warned Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Working Committee (NWC) to avoid any form of injustice on the matter.
In a communiqué issued after several hours of meeting held at the Maitama residence of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah (YPP, Anambra South), they alleged that the Tinubu administration had begun to work towards marginalising their zone, noting that since it was tactically denied presidential ticket by the two major political parties in the February 2023 election, the Senate leadership ought to have been conceded to the zone in the interest of justice and fairness.
Part of the communiqué read: “We have observed with dismay the antics of persons with vested selfish interests, who have planted themselves around the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and have vowed to shut out the South East from the Senate Presidency of the 10th Senate.
“Beyond ethnic and religious considerations, in the forthcoming 10th Senate, the South East has been blessed with ranking senators-elect, including members of the All Progressives Congress (APC). They have the cranial capacity, competence, influence, experience and political followership to pilot the affairs of the red chamber. It becomes imperative that the All Progressives Congress upholds the principle of natural justice and equity, which it preaches, founded on reason, and zone the seat of Senate President to the South-east region.
“That the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, should extend the same democratic opportunity he received from the outgoing administration, which gave all aspirants equal opportunity to exercise their fundamental and constitutional rights during the APC presidential primaries.
“He should be conscious of the grave implications of zoning and endorsing a candidate from the South South without any regard for the South East. Such move will, no doubt, serve as a recipe for injustice, which will culminate in restiveness. We implore the president-elect to be sensitive to the times in Nigeria and ensure the country continues to thrive on the party of equity, unity and fairness to the tripod of Nigeria (Hausa Igbo Yoruba) and the geopolitical zones.
“The country is already divided amongst ethnic and religious lines due to the exclusion of the South East region, which formed the major reason the APC received the amount of votes (it got) from the South East. The incoming administration of Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu must correct this anomaly by ensuring that the South East is given the opportunity to produce the next Senate President. With the sidelining of the South East from producing the presidential candidates of the major political parties before the general election, the only means through which the zone can be compensated and given a sense of belonging is for the zone to produce the next Senate President. This will restore confidence of the people from the South East and South South geopolitical zones and, indeed, all Nigerians in the unity of the country.
“The APC must rise above primordial and political interest and shun the winner takes all syndrome and pursue ethno-religious inclusivity and a strong, virile, united, progressive, prosperous, equitable and just democratic nation. Mr. president-elect, how would an average Igbo man feel after he sees evidence of total discrimination? The South East has been denied the chance of producing the president of Nigeria since 1966. The South South has produced President for six years and also had Deputy Senate President in the outgoing administration. The only zone in the South that has not been favoured is the South East.
“The outcry of marginalisation by the South East and the entire Igbo should be addressed by your incoming administration rather than aggravating it. The South West has President, the North East has Vice President. It is only just that the least position at the moment that can assuage the South East is given the chance to be the President of the 10th Senate. On this note, we have collectively resolved to support South East aspirants of the APC. We remain committed and have since expanded negotiations with other well-meaning senators-elect to rally round the South East to ensure that justice, fairness and unity of the country prevails.”
Apart from Ubah, who read the communiqué, others present at the meeting were Senators Orji Uzor Kalu, Enyinnaya Abaribe, Victor Umeh, Osita Izunaso, Ezenwa Oyewuchi, Tony Nwoye, PC Ndubueze, Okey Ezea, Kelvin Chukwu, and Osita Ngwu.
The Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi says he is aware of some evil designs against himself and his supporters in the coming months.
The former Anambra State governor disclosed this in a statement released on his verified Twitter handle on Monday, May 29, 2023.
The release of the statement coincided with the inauguration of Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as Nigeria’s President at the Eagle Square in Abuja.
I am aware of some evil designs being hatched against me and my supporters in the coming months. Efforts will be made to taint my image. Campaigns of calumny are being perfected to defame my character and diminish my hard-earned integrity.
— Peter Obi (@PeterObi) May 28, 2023
See full statement:
For all Nigerians, this is a time for deep reflection. It is also a time to re-examine our assumptions, even as we reaffirm our hopes. Let us calmly review our aspirations, in order to recalibrate our expectations and pin down the causes of our missed opportunities and disappointments.
We stand at that critical moment in time when, as a people, we must collectively come to grips with the reality of our injured destiny as well as the reasons for that injury. It is for us to reassess our plight as a young democracy and identify clear pathways to a better and greater future for us all. As we await the verdict of the election tribunal, I urge all Nigerians to use this opportunity to renew their commitment to the Nigerian ideal. That ideal remains noble and worth every sacrifice we can make.
Nigeria remains our only patrimony and it is a patrimony we must protect, rather than violate. We have no other nation but this, so let us remain committed to rescuing and rebuilding it.
The judiciary is part of the democratic enterprise and a critical governance tool for determining the propriety of the decisions and actions of every citizen and every institution of state. To that extent, and for that reason, I urge everyone to treat it with the respect and dignity it deserves.
We expect that the Nigerian judiciary will use the election cases now before it to reaffirm its independence and integrity. It has to do so, for all our sakes and for itself.
Nigerians must, therefore, remain peaceful and law abiding. No matter the depth of anyone’s reservations about what is going on in the polity today, no matter the real and imagined provocations, and no matter the disagreement out there, we should remember that this will not last forever.
I remain committed, and untiring, in my determination to work with like-minded fellow Nigerians to end the curse of missed opportunities and squandered hope that has become our lot here.
I will never shrink from that original commitment, because I firmly believe that we must change from the present politics of criminality, and corruption, in order to make a new Nigeria possible.
I call on fellow Nigerians, especially the youths to remain steadfast, calm, patient, and peaceful. Our journey may be long and difficult but it is worth it in every way. Victory is assured.
We have to work together to move our beautiful country from corruption and criminality to a center of productivity rather than aimless consumption.
I am aware of some evil designs being hatched against me and my supporters in the coming months. Efforts will be made to taint my image. Campaigns of calumny are being perfected to defame my character and diminish my hard-earned integrity.
These schemes will aim at degrading our support base and confusing the public. But, no evil campaign will alter the substance of my character; nor diminish my patriotic commitment to a better Nigeria. It is about the future of our youths. it is about ending the Years of Locust.
In all of this, I thank Nigerians, our great party (LP) and the media. The latter, as the Fourth Estate of the realm, has remained a trusted ally.
This Estate must continue to guide our people on the immense promise of a future in a new Nigeria.
God bless Nigeria and protect the troops keeping us safe in this season of vaulting insecurity.
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria. –PO
Channels
James Faleke, lawmaker and Secretary of the now defunct All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC-PCC), has revealed that President Bola Tinubu would unveil members of his cabinet within 60 days.
Channels Television, which quoted him as saying on Monday, at the inauguration of of Tinubu and Kashim Shettima as president and vice-president of Nigeria was underway at the Eagle Square in Abuja, said the President, would , unveil his cabinet as soon as possible.
Faleke, who promised that the new President would bring a different approach to power, was quoted as saying: “Of course, within 60 days, that’s what the law says. He can announce anytime but I just know he must do it within 60 days.”
Eradication of terrorism, waging war against corruption and battling the crippling poverty in Nigeria, would form the fulcrum of a new Nigeria President Bola Tinubu, says he would strive to put in place as his new government began hours ago after assuming the reins of power as the 16th President, after Muhammadu Buhari handed over to him at an elaborate ceremony at the Eagle Square, Abuja, on Monday.
Vowing to defend Nigeria from all forms of terror, as well as end extreme poverty in the country, Tinubu, told Nigerians: “I will do that through job creation and food security and end to extreme poverty. I will ensure that corruption is tacked by strenghtening anti-corruption agencies.”
He also promised that his administration would discourage corruption through the introduction of a credit culture, stating: “Our government will continue to take proactive steps such as championing a credit culture to discourage corruption while strengthening the effectiveness and efficiency of the various anti-corruption agencies.”
It was also on a day the President, who had during his presidential campaigns, promised Nigerians that he would remove subsidy on petroleum products, made good his words by announcing suspension on them, adding that the era of payments on fuel was gone, as the 2023 Budget made no provision for fuel subsidy “and more so, subsidy payment is no longer justifiable.”
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In the military, INEC boss and his team would be executed – Bode George *Why put Tinubu’s boy in charge of IT?
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