Nigeria’s vice-president-elect, Mr. Kashim Shettima has has told members-elect that it is not practicable for the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to be of the same faith.
Recall that early this week, the APC nominated a former minister of Niger Delta affairs, Godswill Akpabio, and a House of Representatives member from Kaduna, Abbas Tajudeen, as Senate president and Speaker, respectively.
Also recall that the party also nominated a senator representing Kano North, Barau Jibrin as deputy senate president, and a lawmaker from Abia, Benjamin Kalu as deputy speaker.
Since the nominations, some members-elect and a section of the general public been faulted the party, saying the National Assembly must be independent and be allowed to elect it’s leaders.
However, speaking with 60 of the members-elect at a meeting some on Friday. Shettima also implored them to accept the zoning arrangement of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the leadership of the 10th national assembly.
According to him, APC seeks to avoid a situation where all the top officials of the incoming administration would be of the same faith, adding that the circumstance could “validate the negative narrative of the Islamisation agenda of Nigeria.
“The leadership of the forthcoming national assembly must be inclusive because the stability of the nation is much more important than any other consideration.
“What we are trying to avoid is a situation whereby the number one citizen, number two citizen, the number three citizen, and the number four citizen are all of the same faith. That will lend credence, and validate the negative narrative of the Islamisation agenda of Nigeria.
‘This is why my principal, a fair-minded leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is more inclined towards having the number three citizen from the South/south or the south-east. Even in the current circumstance that we find ourselves in, the stability of the nation is much more important than any other consideration.
“All other considerations have to be relegated to the background because we are talking about the stability of the nation.
“We are talking about inclusivity, we are talking about togetherness because nation-building is a continuous work in progress and politics is about perception, it is about optics. I am quite glad that Benjamin Kalu will emerge as the deputy speaker. The hope for the black man rests with the people of this country,” the vice President-elect said.
