A former Edo State Commissioner for Information, Prince Kassim Afegbua, has urged the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, to back his assurance by ensuring the 10th Senate Presidency is zoned to the southern region of the country.
Afegbua, who is the Convener of South-South Senate Presidency, said Tinubu must re-affirm his commitment to fairness, justice, and equitable distribution of power amongst the country’s regions by zoning the Senate Presidency to the South-South geopolitical zone.
The former commissioner noted that the 10th Senate President must be a Christian following the election victory of Tinubu and the Vice President-elect, Sen. Kashim Shettima, who are both Muslims.
He stressed that the norm-shattering Muslim-Muslim ticket of the ruling party All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 general election triggered the historically-informed insecurities of several groups about hegemony and outright domination, adding that it would reasonable and rational to allow other religions occupy the Senate President and Speakership positions.
Afegbua said this via a statement issued and made available to The Star on Monday, April 17.
The APC chieftain said: “The President-elect has justified his selection of a Muslim running mate as a practical choice informed by election victory calculations, not religious bigotry. He must now back the assurance with actions, beginning with the composition of the leadership of the National Assembly, specifically the Senate Presidency and Speakership which are the reasons for this press engagement.
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“The Senate President, being the third highest-ranking government official in the country, and one produced by an indirect election largely influenced and determined by the ruling party, is and has always been an opportunity to balance ethnic, regional, and religious concerns. The need for balancing that algorithms, is more compelling now, in view of our present history and shared commitment.
“We strongly believe that the incoming president Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the APC can only satisfy the necessary need to balance ethnic, regional, and religious concerns by ceding the Senate Presidency and Speakership to other religions. In the light of this, we appeal to the leadership of the ruling party, the APC, and the President-elect to cede the Senate President to the South-South geopolitical zone.”
Justifying his position on the need to zone the 10th Senate Presidency to the South-South, Afegbua said the zone must be compensated for its sacrifices to the development of Nigeria being the treasure base of the country.
The former commissioner noted that the economic importance of the zone and its strategic relevance to stabilising the politics of the nation cannot be over-emphasised, adding that the South-South region stood firm and contributed a significant percentage of votes to Tinubu’s victory in the 2023 presidential election.
He said the South-East geopolitical zone had occupied the seat of Senate President on five occasions for eight years, and Deputy Senate President position for 12 years in the last 24 years of the country’s democracy.
Afegbua said it would be injustice to accord privilege to the South-East over the South-South for the 10th Senate Presidency, stressing that the most deserving region for the red chamber Presidency is the South-South geopolitical zone.
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He said: “In the last election, the ruling party, the APC, was able to make serious in-roads into the zone that has been under the threshold of the opposition PDP. Aside from winning Rivers State, the APC came second in the other five states, thus simplifying the requirement needed by the Presidential candidate to defeat his opponents.
“The South-South region stood firm and contributed a significant percentage of votes to the President-elect’s victory. The APC came first in Rivers State and claimed over 45 per cent of the total number of votes in the other five states. This is despite the historic status of the region as an opposition stronghold.
“The members of the party from the South-South displayed a high sense of duty and loyalty to the party, canvassing votes not just for their individual positions but equally for the President-elect.
“Indeed, without their outstanding show of belief, the President-elect may have well faltered in achieving the mandatory 25 per cent spread in the two-thirds of states of the federation.
“With the foregoing, it would be an act of injustice to accord privilege to the South-East over the South-South for the Senate Presidency. It would amount to the party giving one of its biggest prizes to a geopolitical zone that contributed the least to its victory.
“The import of this to members in the future would be that a sense of entitlement and heavy investments in emotional appeal is all a region needs to score big in the post-election scramble for power, not results at the polls. This is damaging for any party with future plans to maintain its hold on power.
“It is clear that going by Nigeria’s history, its constitutional and moral obligation to ensure social justice and equitable representation of the sociocultural groups and geopolitical zones that make up the country, as well as recent political perks and privileges enjoyed by each region; the most deserving region for the Senate Presidency is the South-South geopolitical zone.
“To open his administration on a positive and optimistic note, the President-elect must lead the party in this direction,” Afegbua added.
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