From Fred Itua, Abuja
Stakeholders, who are members of a Coalition of Civil Society Organisations, tagged: “Conference of Nigeria Civil Rights Activists (CNCRA)”, have described as a welcome development, media reports that the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), are currently reviewing the 10th National Assembly zoning arrangements earlier released.
Convener of CNCRA, Pastor Ifeanyi Odili, in a statement made available to reporters in Abuja, said the latest decision by the party and the President-elect show that Tinubu is a true democrat who believes in equity, fairness and justice.
The APC had a penultimate week and announced its zoning arrangements, where the North West geopolitical zone was allocated two presiding positions, while both the South-South and the South East got one each.
The North Central geopolitical zone was left out of the arrangements and the development sparked off a series of protests from stakeholders and politicians.
The CNCRA said the fact that Tinubu and the elders of the APC are considering the review of the zoning arrangements in such a way to accommodate the North Central will calm frayed nerves and instil confidence in the leaders of the zone who had over the years, exhibited loyalty and commitment to the APC and the President-elect.
A recent newspaper publication revealed that the leadership of the APC and Tinubu might have finally agreed to review the zoning arrangements for the 10th National Assembly presiding officers.
The pro-democracy group explained that North Central deserves a Presiding Officer in the interest of fairness, equity and justice
The CNCRA explained that the North Central zone had been seriously marginalised in Nigeria since 1999.
Part of the statement read: “The North-Central has been the most marginalised in the country since 1999.
“The zone has not produced the president nor vice president of the country, and it was only proper that the zone should be allowed to produce the next Deputy Senate President in the 10th National Assembly.
“All the Senators-Elect from the zone, irrespective of their political parties, ethnic and religious background have spoken with one voice and the entire six governors have also re-echoed the demands of the Senators.
“It will only be proper and just for the North Central to produce the Deputy Senate President since the North West would produce the Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives.
“The North Central being the largest zone in the country in terms of landmass has suffered the worst form of insecurity, partly because it lacked adequate representation in the nation’s highest political hierarchy.
“Notwithstanding the unacceptable reoccurring decimal of not receiving commensurate compensation and attention, the North Central contributed significantly than ever before by voting more for the APC in the last presidential election.
“The zone produced the third highest vote tally amongst the zones in the country.
“There is therefore the need for a ranking senator from the zone to emerge as the next Deputy Senate President so as to effectively tackle the worsening insecurity in the North Central.
“Apart from this, the nation’s economy could be revived and transformed with appropriate legislation and the North Central has abundant natural resources that could be harnessed for economic development.
“For instance, Senator Sani Musa has been condemning the worsening insecurity situation in the country on the floor of the Senate.
“The Senator, who hails from Niger State, one of the worst-hit states by terrorists’ activities, has consistently decried the worsening security situation in the country.
“We should not take the issue of security with levity because if we do that, it will affect development.
“When we look at the North Central zone, Senator Musa is the most ranking senator that should be supported by all for the position of the Senate President.
“What the All Progressives Congress (APC) should do is to zone the office of the Deputy Senate President to the North Central, so as to compensate the people for their massive support and vote in the recent Presidential and National Assembly elections.”