By Dapo Olaosebikan
It is an open secret that the race for the Senate President of the 10th National Assembly is on. It is equally a national knowledge that the race is literally between the South-South and South-East geopolitical zones of the country though the North-West is lately trying to be in contention with the recent news of intention by ex-Governor Abdulaziz Yari from Zamfara State.
As things currently stand, however, the two front liners for the coveted post are Senators Godswill Akpabio and Orji Uzor Kalu from South-South and South-East respectively.
To avoid a possible implosion at the take-off of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, the national consensus is that the odds are in favour of Akpabio as a result of the following facts.
First of all, it is generally argued that since the beginning of current dispensation in the country in 1999, the South-South has not occupied the post of Senate President, whereas, the South-East had occupied the post several times. Senators Chuba Okadigbo and Evan Enwerem were the pioneers. They were followed by Senators Adolphus Wabara, Ayim Pius Ayim and Ken Nnamani.
This South-East domination of the Senate Presidency, particularly during the Olusegun Obasajo era, counts against the geopolitical zone in the current political situation. When the region ruled the Senate, the region was controlled by the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, and its contributions to the party’s electoral victories in the federal and local elections at the time, was remarkably high. But, in the just concluded national elections, the total contribution of the South-East to the fortunes of the All Progressives Congress, APC, the ruling party, was ridiculously low, whereas the South-South’s overall contribution in the same regard, was monumental.
In a similar fashion, personal or individual contributions of South-East to APC’s electoral fortune is abysmal compared to that of South-South and other geopolitical zones of the country. For example, in the last presidential election, Orji Kalu, one of the zone’s contenders for the Senate Presidency, scored 30,805 votes to win his senatorial seat and Tinubu, APC’s presidential flag bearer in the election held same time and day, scored a paltry 8,914 votes in the same Abia State.
On the other hand, Akpabio, the South-South candidate, scored 115,401 votes to make it to the Senate of the 10th National Assembly in his state. Tinubu got 160,620 votes from Akwa-Ibom State alone apart from the massive votes he got from other states from the South-South. Conversely, Tinubu got a total of 127,605 votes from all the entire five South-eastern states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo.
The implication of all these is that in the race for Senate Presidency of the 10th National Assembly, any candidate from the South-East will be running from a position of serious disadvantage. Thus, as it has been established by President Muhammadu Buhari and openly reiterated by the President-Elect during last electioneering campaigns, there will be no more room for “monkey dey work, baboons dey chop” in sharing of political fortunes that came with the electoral victory of the APC at the last polls.
It cannot be underestimated that the North will not play a remarkable role in who becomes the next President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. From all available facts, the South-South candidate is tipped as the region’s choice. A symbolic attestation to this is the fact that a group from Nasarawa State, Senator Godswill Akpabio for Common Good (SGACG), like many others from the North, has started to openly canvas for him. The group, in publications in some Nigerian dailies recently, called on all senators-elect for the 10th Senate to vote for Akpabio as the next Senate president of Nigeria.
The Chairman of the group, Musa Yahaya Azara, made the request on behalf of the SGACG at a press conference in Lafia, Nasarawa State. While noting that all the other aspirants for the office of the Senate President were experienced and qualified, Azara remarked that Akpabio, who is the Dan Amanan of Azara in Nasarawa State, was more deserving for the purpose of national unity and fairness.
He said: “It is worth mentioning that all geopolitical zones of the country have had a fair share of the office, but the South-South has been marginalised for a long time, considering their contributions to the national treasury.”
He also stressed that Akpabio, being a former governor of Akwa Ibom State, former Senate Minority Leader, and a former minister, is very experienced and qualified for the post. He added that Akpabio contributed immensely to the success of the APC presidential primaries last year as he was the first presidential aspirant to step down and throw his support behind Tinubu, a situation that reduced and doused the palpable tension at the APC presidential primaries held at the Eagle Square, Abuja. Obviously, Azare has marshalled most of the facts nationally known and appreciated about Akpabio’s capacity and capability as a prime Nigerian political leader with legitimate claim to the Senate Presidency. Suffice to add here that the uncommon paces-setting Nigerian leader from the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria is also a quintessential lawyer.
In his eight years as governor of Akwa-Ibom State, Akpabio out-performed all his contemporaries in every sphere of governance in Nigeria that he was (and still being) nationally and admiringly called the UNCOMMON GOVERNOR; a feat he also replicated as Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Unequivocally, these are testimonials to the fact that the South-South should produce the next Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Senator Godswill Akpabio is the most qualified man for the job.
Olaosebikan, author, veteran journalist and publisher writes from Abuja.