South-based northern monarchs back Ekweremadu’s election

AS the All Progressives Congress (APC) continues search for solutions to its leadership crisis in National Assembly (NASS), the council of southern states-based Northern Traditional Rulers has expressed regrets at moves to remove Ike Ekweremadu as Deputy President of the Senate.

According to the monarchs, his removal, if it succeeds, would be tantamount to sidelining the entire South East zone from the NASS political equation, which could ignite ethnic tension in the country due to its divisive undertone.

Chairman of the council and Sarkin Hausawa Abia State, Yaro Danladi, told journalists in Umuahia on Sunday that Ekweremadu should be allowed to continue in his position “because he is the only eye of the South East in the present National Assembly.”

According to him, “since Ekweremadu is the only lawmaker of South East extraction holding a principal position in the current NASS, removing him from this office would be irrational. It is unnecessary and divisive and will deny his people a sense of belonging in the polity as well as make them lose confidence in the government in power.”

He remarked that Nigerians, especially those living outside their regions, were yet to recover from the shocks and effects of the previous ethnic clashes, and are tired of crisis.

Also, he urged the APC to allow Ekweremadu hold his duly elected office a sacrifice for the unity of Nigeria, warning that his removal would generate ill-feelings among the Igbo and further divide the country along tribal lines.

“We sincerely appeal to President (Muhammadu) Buhari to save the situation from degenerating further,” he said. “He is the President of Nigeria and not the President of APC. Any action capable of igniting crisis of confidence and mutual suspicion ought to be nipped in the bud so that it does not portray his administration in bad light.

“With the elections over, any sacrifice that will maintain the peace and unity of Nigeria should not be considered too much. Let the government give a sense of belonging to every section of the country.”