Amid concerns by most Nigerians that the All Progressives Congress, APC, was on the verge of foisting a corrupt leadership in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, the Director General of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, Chief Akin Osuntokun, has condemned the criminalization of Nigeria’s politics by the ruling party with the promotion of senators with criminal cases.
In a television interview monitored in Abuja, Osuntokun who spoke on the infiltration of the Labor Party, LP, by ‘strange elements’ and the resultant crisis which led to a squabble at the sitting of the Presidential Tribunal in Abuja on Wednesday, referred to the aspirations of former Governors of Akwa Ibom and Abia States, Senators Godswill Akapabio and Orji Uzor Kalu respectively, jostling for the position of Senate President of the 10th National Assembly.
In his submission, Osuntokun frowned at the aspiration of the duo based on their records which have been tainted with corruption. He specifically noted with concern the purported endorsement of Akpabio by the NWC of the APC and the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the leadership of the nation’s upper legislative chamber.
He upbraided the APC leadership and Tinubu for micro-zoning the senate presidency to Akpabio who he noted has “tonnes of corruption cases at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.”
Condemning the endorsement of the former Akwa Ibom Governor and the aspiration of Orji Kalu, the Labor Party leader said the elevation of such persons to important leadership positions would further taint the image of the country and hamper the fight against corruption in the land.
Chief Osuntokun wondered why the President-elect and the leadership of the APC did not consider a fresh and untainted senator for the coveted office.
The fear of having a senate president whose record in office is inundated and tainted with allegations of corruption has dominated the discussions on the mainstream and social media with most Nigerians expressing grave concern that rewarding such malfeasance with a high office of senate president will not only project Nigeria negatively in the comity of nations but will elevate sleaze in government offices to a new level.
He described the plan by the ruling party as the new normal in Nigeria’s political environment.
His words: “We are going to have a Senate President if APC were to be believed, who became a Senator by an unprecedented judgment of the Supreme Court.
“He was contesting for the Presidency and Senate at the same time. After scaling that, now you are rubbing it on our faces that the man is coming to be the Senate President. He has tons of cases at the EFCC. You see this is the new normal in Nigeria. It is an aspect of the criminalization of politics in Nigeria and it has several manifestations.
“His co-contestant, Kalu, do I need to tell you his story again, he was convicted and was in jail and the Supreme Court again in its wisdom said that because the man who gave the judgment has been promoted somewhere (not on the substance of the case). It was on that basis that he was nullified.
“He was a sore thumb condemning or castigating the idea of conceding the presidency to the South-East. He was championing the course you know of not entertaining it at all; that it’s not their turn.
“Now he wants to be Senate President; he has made a 360-degree U-turn. He said well it will amount to cheating, and injustice against the Igbo people if he is not made Senate President. So you see all these types of things, the criminalization of politics.”