Senate presidency: HURIWA kicks against micro-zoning position to Akpabio

• As group rallies support for Orji Kalu

HUMAN Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), yesterday, kicked against micro zoning of the Senate presidency to Godswill Akpabio.The group’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement, said that the decision offends the legally binding principle of checks and balances among the three tiers of government, and is an egregious, as well as irreparable violation of the constitutionally guaranteed principle of independence of the legislature.

HURIWA expressed belief that the President of the 10th Senate, doubling as chairman of the 10th National Assembly, which will be inaugurated on June 13, 2023, must, like Caesar’s wife, be above suspicion.

According to the group, the central driving mantra and foundational philosophy on which the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) sold its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, now President, to Nigerians, was ‘Renewed Hope.’

The group said: “Nigerians bought into it and voted Tinubu and APC to power, because it deeply resonated with the populace.

“Strangely, against all logic of inclusive consultation and the imperative of taking the right first step of building a promised new Nigeria, anchored on ‘Renewed Hope,’ the APC, allegedly, with Tinubu’s blessing, zoned the Senate President’s position to the South South and further micro-zoned it to Godswill Akpabio.

Meanwhile, HURWA has rejected the choice of Akpabio as its preferred candidate for the position. It said: “On the scale of integrity and morality, he is the wrong choice.”

MEANWHILE, an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain and factional Executive Coordinator of Ndigbo Group in APC (Authentic), Lagos, Eze Uche Dimba, has declared support for Senator Orji Uzor Kalu for Senate President in the 10th Senate.

Dimba, who noted this in Lagos, yesterday, while addressing journalists, added that crisis in the Igbo group in APC has made the party loose several elections, because people were not carried along. He stressed that Ndigbo in APC has agreed that leadership of the Senate should come to the South East in the spirit of equity and justice.

He went further to state that the conspiracy against Igbo in APC could no longer be tolerated. He said: “I would have kept quiet, but to set the record straight, I want to let the world know that I still remain the Executive Coordinator of Ndigbo in APC (Authentic), Lagos State. I remember when President Bola Tinubu called me to assist him in mobilising various Igbo groups to support his presidency, the mobilisation was marred by crisis.”

Dimba noted that it was because of the failure to mobilise Igbo into the party that they lost many positions during the election. He added that this was why they decided to pull out.

He said: “We have the structure, secretariat, and we have decided to call ourselves Ndigbo in APC (Authentic).” He noted that the best man for the Senate President job is Kalu, because he has the experience, being the oldest member of the National Assembly having served in the Forth Assembly as member of House of Representative between 1992 and 1993, during the aborted Third Republic under Agunwa Anakwe as Speaker.