•Umahi, Barau declare interest
From Noah Ebije, Kaduna, Chijioke Agwu, Abakaliki
A political pressure group, The Equality Movement (TEM), has backed the Senate Chief Whip, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, in his quest to become president of the 10th Senate, saying he possesses the aptitude to lead the upper legislative chamber.
Leader of the movement, Alhaji Mohammed Yusuf Ajiji, described Kalu as a sensible and reasonable politician, who has the capacity to mobilise the 10th Senate to pursue a common cause for the good of the country.
“We believe strongly that if Senator Kalu emerges as Senate president, he has the capacity to mobilise the South East behind the APC and also douse the tension in the sub-region,” TEM said in a statement by the publicity secretary, Garba Noma.
“It’s exhilarating for us to read in the media that His Excellency, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has thrown his hat into the ring to contest for the Senate Presidency.
“Our movement had earlier issued a statement campaigning for the Senate President to be zoned to the South East in the interest of equity and fairness and the person we had in mind for the position was actually Senator Uzor Kalu.
“He is first among equals. Since he has personally made commitment to venture into the race, we have no any other option than to rally behind him.
“As a businessman, his exploits and achievements are the stuffs of legend and as a politician, he has acquainted himself creditably as a governor and senator of the republic.
“Though Senator Uzor Kalu hails from the South East, his tentacles have spread across the country in his pursuit of education, business and politics.
“Senator Uzor Kalu is a patriot and his commitment to Nigeria is overwhelming as demonstrated by his capacity to build bridges of friendship across the country from Maiduguri to Lagos and from Sokoto to Taraba.”
The group appealed to the Senators-elect to close ranks and place national interest above personal and political inclinations and support Kalu, who it described as the best man for the job.
•Set aside rules to allow best leadership to emerge –Gov
Ebonyi State Governor, Chief David Umahi and Senator representing Kano North, Jibrin Barau, yesterday, formally declared their ambition to contest for the plum office.
Umahi announced his ambition in Abakaliki during state executive Council meeting.
He appealed to the president-elect, the vice president-elect and the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to zone the office to the South East.
He also appealed to APC to zone the Speakership of the House of Representatives to the North West.
He argued that zoning the Senate Presidency to South East and Speakership of the House of Representatives to North West would serve for equity, justice and fairness
He, therefore, called on the National Assembly to set aside the rules of the Senate to enable first time senators like himself to contest.
“Let to the South East zone for equity, fairness and justice.
He also called on the national assembly to set aside rules in order to allow the best leadership to emerge.
Umahi said: “Let me plead and request the leadership of APC, the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the Vice President-elect, Kashim Shetima, to please, for the sake of equity, fairness and justice, zone the Senate presidency to the South East and the Speaker of House of Representatives to the North West. This is for inclusiveness and to tell Nigerians that we are on the path for the reunion. It will also calm fraying nerves.”
•I’m most experienced, says Barau
While declaring interest, Senator representing Kano North, Jibrin Barau, boasted that he was the most experienced and most competent candidate among the candidates who had indicated interest for the position.
“I want to tell you that I intend to seek to be the 10th Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In a few weeks, I will make a formal declaration,” he said.
The chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation noted that the legislature was a distinct arm of government that worked on competence.
“It doesn’t work on sentiments it works on your ability to do the job. It is the tradition all over the world. It is there in our rules and this rule is a product of our constitution.
“It is clearly in our Standing Rules too that aspiration or election for the Office of the Senate President shall be in accordance with ranking.
“And among those who are seeing to occupy that office as we speak, I have the highest ranking. I’m the most experienced. The issue is that of competence, you need to be grounded in procedure of legislation before you are able to be the President of the Senate. Do you now relegate competence for other sentiments?”
He further said that the position of the Senate President was not based on religion.
“You remember there was a time the Senate president, David Mark and his Deputy, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu were christians
“At that same time in the House of Representatives, Patricia Etteh was the Speaker. This is because they were the most experienced at that time. That is the tradition. Do we now relegate competence to the background? It is not possible. If you are talking about sentiments, North-West deserves the senate presidency. Bringing religious sentiments won’t fly,” he said.
Barau also said that the Legislature was that arm of government that needed to work hard to check the Executive.
“So, when you bring that kind of sentiments into the legislature, you are not doing well for that arm of government. We need to remove that sentiment,” he said.