The race for the leadership of the 10th National Assembly is already heating up, with major contenders for the third and fourth most powerful positions in the country demonstrating their capacities, qualifications, and flexing their muscles. Underground works and lobbying have also commenced.
Unfortunately, insinuations of vote buying have also surfaced, as has become part of the business in the country’s politics. Meanwhile, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has remained silent on the issue of where the leadership of the 10th National Assembly will go, while stakeholders within and outside the party have been calling on the president-elect and the party leadership to quickly address this by zoning the positions to avoid what happened in the eighth assembly.
Unlike the outgoing president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the president-elect is a real politician and strategic. As such, he knows the importance of having a loyal house in running his government smoothly and executing developmental projects for the citizens. However, his silence regarding the leadership of the house is sending negative messages to well-meaning Nigerians who have been expecting him and the party chairman to call an urgent meeting to address the issue before it plunges the party into an avoidable crisis.
Recently, heavyweight members of the APC have been announcing their interest in leading the 10th National Assembly, especially the red chamber. Among the heavyweight senators-elect who have publicly declared their interest are Senator Uzor Ojikalu, representing Abia North, a former governor of Abia State and one-term senator going for his second term; Senator Barau I. Jibrin, representing Kano North, a former member of the House of Representatives, a two-term senator and going for his third term; and the former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, who was a former member of the House of Representatives. Although the other two senators have more legislative experience than Yari, and experience being part of the precondition for becoming either Senate President or Speaker of the House of Representatives, in Nigerian politics, anything is possible.
While politics rewards people based on their performance and contributions to their party, equity must be applied in sharing the major political positions in the country in the spirit of fairness, justice, and national interest. Before delving into that, let’s look at the votes each zone gave to the winning political party in the 2023 general election. The North-West, which has the highest number of registered voters in the country, gave the President-elect a total of 2,652,824 votes. The South-West produced 2,542,979, the South-East produced 127,605, while the South-South gifted Mr. Tinubu 799,957. Based on percentages, the North-West gave the President-elect the highest percentage of the votes he garnered, which is 30%, while the South-East contributed only 1%, the South-South contributed 9%, and his home zone, the South-West, contributed 27%.
From a common-sense perspective, one would conclude that since the North-West gave the President-elect the highest number and percentage of votes, coupled with the fact that the zone has never produced a Senate President, it should be given the chance to produce one this time. However, fairness and equity in the distribution of political positions and resource sharing are what keep the pillars of democracy firm and solid. Even though the South-East contributed a meager 1% and the South-South contributed 9% of their votes, these zones should be allowed to produce the next Senate President. Going contrary to this will further escalate the crisis, discomfort, and alleged sidelining of a certain group of people, especially Christians,
