Senate presidency: I am in race to win, rebrand N’Assembly, says Izunaso

Leading aspirant for Senate presidency of the 10th National Assembly, Osita Izunaso, has insisted that his aspiration to lead the upper legislative chamber was in the best interest of the nation.

This is even as leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tuesday, endorsed former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, for the office.

But Izunaso yesterday in Abuja urged the party to douse the tension generated by the controversial endorsement, urging it to adopt a zoning arrangement that would guarantee unity and national cohesion.

According to the representative of Imo West, the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, outgoing Muhammadu Buhari and the Senator Adamu Abdulahi-led APC must as a matter of importance, come up with a new zoning arrangement that would not only produce the best among lawmakers of the two chambers as presiding officers, but be seen by Nigerians and the world at large to have met best practices in legislative norms, as well as satisfy political exigencies of the country.

“The expectations of Nigeria and the entire world were high on the incoming administration. No efforts should be spared by the present political leaders of the country in meeting the yearnings of the people, “ he advised.

Izunaso agreed with the National Working Committee on the need for “further and better consultations” in reaching a workable zoning formula for the principal offices.

“The APC NWC had, in its press statement of Tuesday, said it noted with respect the outcome of meetings held between the President-elect and leadership of the party. The NWC called for further and better consultation with necessary stakeholders to assure support of aspirants to the National Assembly leadership positions and members of the party nationwide,” he noted.

The lawmaker held that from the statement, “the NWC was ostensibly not satisfied with the zoning arrangement that allocated two major principal offices to a particular region and micro zoned all the four major offices in the National Assembly to individuals rather than zones, as in the normal practice.”

Izunaso submitted: “Expectant ascendancy of the undisputable greatest democrat and the most successful politician in Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to the presidency of the most populous black nation had already raised the hope of a better and greater Nigeria in all aspects, particularly in the enhancement of democracy and good governance across the globe.”

According to him, he is in the race to win and give the National Assembly a “clean and fresh breadth.”

He expressed optimism that he would eventually triumph at the election and make Tinubu, senators, members of the House of Representatives and the entire nation proud of an Assembly administered by competence, experience, capacity and integrity comparable, if not better than any in the advanced world.

The Imo indigene observed that the outcry, protests and gang-ups that erupted following the informal and formal announcement of the provocative formula showed that the arrangements were not satisfactory to the overwhelming majority of the newly elected legislators and Nigerians, adding that it should, therefore, be discarded forthwith.