By Stephen Ezendiaru
Why is the ruling All Progressives congress, APC, stoking a needless controversy in the zoning of political offices in the aftermath of its victory in the just concluded general election? Having done the difficult job of winning the election nationwide and claiming the presidency, why is a grand party like the APC failing in the simple task of equitable sharing of offices among the geopolitical zones that constitute Nigeria? it is indeed disturbing to see how APC is already laying landmines for the Tinubu presidency and creating more fissures in a country with debilitating fault lines by not doing the simple thing of toeing the line of justice.
Ordinarily, the mere sharing of political offices among the six geopolitical zones of the country ought not to be an issue of controversy. But that is not presently the case in the APC with the lopsided sharing formula which has loaded one zone with juicy offices and hanging other zones out to dry. Or how else can one describe the situation in which the offices of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Deputy Senate President have been said to be zoned to the North-West region of the country.
Let it be said straightaway that there wouldn’t have been any problem with this arrangement if each of the other five geopolitical zones in the country has been fairly treated by securing at least one important position for them. It is really a crying shame that a party that calls itself democratic, a party that understands deep cleavages inherent in our country’s body politic, and how these divisions define every political decisions and actions in a plural society like ours can go ahead with this kind of insensitivity and injustice.
For those who do not understand the level of injustice at play in the announced zoning of political offices within the ruling party, let’s break it down here. APC, it was reported has zoned the office of the Senate President to South-South – and who will quarrel with that? It zoned the office of the Speaker to the North-West: fair enough. It zoned the position of Deputy Speaker albeit grudgingly to the South-East, maybe fine. The South-West and the North-East already have the President and the Vice President respectively. The only zone left out in this arrangement is conspicuously the North-Central zone. And so, natural justice, equity and fair play would demand therefore that the position of the Deputy Senate President should go to the North-Central.
The question then is: why is the APC leadership discountenancing an entire geopolitical zone in its sharing formula of political offices? Is it that the North-Central zone popularly referred to as the Middle Belt did not give President Bola Ahmed Tinubu enough votes to win the election? Or is it the case that the zone does not have a ranking senator who would fit not just the requirement for the office but also have the requisite temperament that will complement President Tinubu?
In answering the first poser, let’s posit that the North-Central is one of the zones that gave Tinubu the greatest support in terms of their votes contribution ratio to his victory. In fact Tinubu won in all the North-Central states except Plateau State by winning in Benue, Kogi, Kwara and Niger States. In reality, The North-Central contributed to Tinubu’s victory more than the overrated and over-favoured North-West wherein Tinubu lost in Kano, Kaduna and Katsina. So, why exactly is the North-West being over compensated at the detriment of those who performed better in the election in terms of votes contribution?
In terms of the second poser, the North-Central boasts of quality legislators who are not only ranking senators but astute politicians and administrators. One of such senators that have consistently been mentioned is Senator Mohammed Sani Musa who represents Niger East senatorial district.
By any measures or standards the senator, going by the different analysis and his antecedent, stands out as a qualified person for the candidature of the Deputy Senate President and he is very fit for purpose.
Moreover, the 10th Senate needs somebody who is people oriented and who believes that the essence of government is to improve the life chances of the ordinary citizens. There is no gainsaying the fact that the Senator Musa has achieved all these without any budgetary allocations as he is not from the executive arm of government.
How glorious it will be for APC to present a Deputy Senate President that has the audacity to facing any kind of challenge with foresight. Again, a senate president and his deputy even though the heads of an another arm of government are not expected to be in an adversarial relationship with the executive arm of government. Instead of competition, a senate that will help President Tinubu deliver on his election promises, must be one that is headed by cool heads, an upright and frank legislator with wide networks both amongst their senate colleagues and outside the National Assembly.
Again, Senator Sani Musa is not the type that derives pleasure in undermining his principals or sabotaging his colleagues. What is more, he is a loyal party man. When he contested for the position of the APC National Chairman, he was among the first to withdraw from the race without grumbling when President Buhari anointed the incumbent chairman in the overall interest of the party.
And in terms of personality, the senate needs a honest humble man and a great listener. A legislator, that has been imbued with the patience of hearing from all sides and taking nobody for granted. These are the rare qualities expected in anyone aspiring to lead in the Nigerian senate.
*Ezendiaru, a public affairs analyst wrote from Lagos
