Zoning: North-East, North-Central battle for Senate president slot • Race for Speakership hots up

THE raging battle over zoning of top government positions took a new turn on Monday,

following a strong quest by politicians from the North-East geopolitical zone for the position of Senate president.

Sources confirmed to the Nigerian Tribune that some incumbent senators and senators-elect from the North-East had met in Abuja last Thursday and arrived at the conclusion that the zone should move for the number one post in the National Assembly.

Sources confirmed that 15 senators from the zone met secretly last week to consider the possibility of the zone producing the next Senate president.

A source said that the zone had dissected the political realities on the ground in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as far as sharing of the top government positions are concerned and arrived at the conclusion that it was ripe for the North-East to produce the nation’s number three man.

One of the arguments put forward by the zone is that it has not held the position since the dawn of democracy in 1999.

The South-East held the position for eight years from 1999 and 2007, while it was zoned to the North-Central in 2007.

Incumbent Senate President, Senator David Mark, is in contention for the post after winning his re-election in April.

According to sources, senators-elect from the zone, who met in Abuja, said that the country should consider ceding the position of the Senate president to the North-East as a palliative, in view of what a source referred to as the post-election violence that rocked the zone in April.

Said a source: “The senators-elect emphasised the need to zone the Senate presidency to the area as a palliative against the post-presidential poll violence, which rocked the zone in April.

“They further emphasised that it was necessary to concede the position to the zone to assuage the feelings of the people as it was done to the South-West in 1999, following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.”

According to sources, the senators argued that since the presidency has moved from the North-West to the South-South, the need to enhance the unity, peace and stability of the nation should inform the new zoning arrangement.

It was also gathered that the PDP had concluded arrangements to conduct an induction programme for all its members in the National Assembly from May 15 to 22.

Sources said that the new zoning formula would be unveiled during the induction exercise.

The meeting of the North-East senators was said to be a reaction to reported plans by a group said to be working in favour of the retention of Senator Mark as president of the next Senate.

Sources confirmed that some leaders of the North-Central were in favour of the retention of the current zoning arrangement, which could give Mark an edge. But a source said that the North-East was marshalling arguments to the effect that the “core North” needed to be pacified with the position in view of the outcome of the presidential election.

The North-East group was said to have argued last week that “insisting on Mark will reinforce the fears of the core North, which needs to be pacified, since it lost out in the power equation, in the aftermath of the death of Umaru Yar’Adua.

“The power arrangement in the country since the unfortunate demise of Yar’Adua has created deep dissatisfaction in the core North, resulting in the post-presidential poll violence in the zone.”

Incidentally, the North-Central is also said to be united behind the bid to retain the Senate presidency in the zone.

Their bid appears to have been strengthened by the emergence of another group in the South-East said to be canvassing the retention of the status quo, as far as zoning is concerned.

Race for Speakership hots up
Meanwhile, the race for the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives has started gathering momentum as the current members embark on a search for a likely candidate among contenders who have so far declared subtle interest.

At the moment, contenders for the office are from the South-East and the North-West with the current Chief Whip, Honourable Emeka Ihedioha, the current Aviation Committee Chairman, Honourable Bethel Amadi and Honourable Yakubu Dogara (North-West), being the most touted.

Ihedioha and Amadi are from the South-East, both hailing from Imo State, while they have been enjoying more of the publicity blitz on the basis that the South-East is the most likely zone to get the slot because of the vote it delivered to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

However, feelers put out at the national headquarters of the PDP are indicating a new twist to the permutation on which zone would get the slot, and that the ruling party has so far been unwilling to take the speakership slot out of the South-West.

Although the PDP is yet to meet to resolve issues on zoning of political offices after the conclusion of the 2011 general election, Nigerian Tribune learnt that religious consideration is one strong factor the PDP may retain the office of House Speaker in the South-West.

Findings have revealed that since the past few days, there have been pressures on President Jonathan to retain the present zoning formula in the PDP on the basis that a good balance had been struck, although some slight adjustments would be required to complete the balance.

The source, who pleaded strict anonymity, said: “It has been agreed that the six top political offices be retained, notwithstanding that the incumbent Speaker of the House of Representatives lost his re-election bid, that the office would not be taken away from the zone.

“The office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives was zoned to the South-West, in the same manner the office of the Senate President is zoned to the Middle Belt and, therefore, the defeat of Dimeji Bankole, the current Speaker, will not alter the zoning arrangement for top political offices in the National Assembly.”

According to the top PDP member, the national headquarters of the party would not be comfortable in taking away the speakership slot from the South-West owing to the implication of exposing the zone completely to the opposition, as the entire zone has been encircled by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

Another argument said to have been canvassed by lobbyists before President Jonathan was that the South-West demonstrated strong commitment to the cause of the PDP by voting overwhelmingly for President Jonathan during the last presidential election.

The loss of the entire zone to the ACN was, however, predicated on the failure of the governors to live up to expectation and the high level of enlightenment among the electorate in the zone.

“We lost the election in the South-West and, therefore, taking away the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives because of this would automatically abandon the zone for the ACN, which would not be in the overall interest of PDP.

“The South-West means a lot to us in the PDP and it is our belief that the office of the Speaker should be retained so as not to kill the people’s interests in the party, while fresh atmosphere would be created for the party to regain its strength in the zone in the future,” the source said.

According to the current permutation, the office of the national chairman of the PDP would be zoned to the North-East, to com-plement the consideration of the North in national power arrangement, in which case the North-West already retained the office of the vice-president.

In the same vein, the South-East, which has lost the slot of the PDP chairman, was expected to get the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), while the Middle Belt would retain the office of Senate president, currently being occupied by Senator David Mark from Benue State, just as the South-East was equally being proposed to retain the office of deputy Senate president.