Senators Izunasor, Barau differ on Zoning of Senate Presidency

***as group engages them, Ned Nwoko, others on 10th NASS leadership

As the debate on zoning of the 10th National Assembly leadership rages on bearing in mind the need to balance the spread to carry along all segments of the country senator Osita Izunaso (Imo West) and Barau Jibrin (Kano West) have expressed opposing views
While senator Izunaso insisted that the diversity of the Nigerian nation was such that a lot of consideration ought to be given to various factors in the process of determining who gets what in the allocation of offices, Barau is of the opinion that a legislative house should be treated differently.
Both legislators are currently candidates jostling for the Senate Presidency

They spoke at an engagement with a Parliamentary Advocacy Network (PAN)

The group also had engaged various leaders and stakeholders across the country ahead of the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly in June.
Continuing Izunaso argued that experience, capacity, competence and other considerations such as ethnic and religious balancing must be factored into the leadership selection process at the next National Assembly.

He also informed that he was presenting himself to his colleagues at the Senate as a loyal party man, lawyer, erstwhile journalist and former member of the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for support to become the next President of the 10th Senate.

Also speaking on his ambition to become President of the 10th Senate, Barau from Kano State maintained that the legislature is such a special institution where experience, exposure, capacity and an ability to navigate through the different ideas, competences and characters of various individuals that constitute its membership, are important in trying to determine who leads such an institution.

He specifically pointed out that some of the rules of each legislative body confer on its senior or ranking members certain advantages that exclude new members.

Barau who is former member of the Kano State Executive Council, was, equally, at the House of Representatives in the early part of the 4th Republic however said he was in support of balancing of the leadership of various government offices along regional and religious lines, but not for a legislative house

On the other hand he said he would gladly defer to the position of his party if at the end of the campaigns and efforts to win the Senate Presidency, it is zoned to another region
For Nwoko, senator-elect from Delta State, it is important to state in no ambiguous terms where the position of President of the Senate ought to go in the 10th Senate.

He said the Igbo needed a sense of belonging in the Nigerian enterprise and that giving the South East region the support to occupy the leadership of the Senate would be a succour to the zone that has continued to raise in the context of their perceived marginalisation in the current Nigeria political set-up.

PAN specialises in promoting good governance, independence of the Legislature and equity at the National Assembly has met with some senators-elect and a member of the House of Representatives, gunning for the Speakership.

It had informed its hosts of their desire to see an independent National Assembly that is capable of being on the side of the people against an overbearing Executive at all times.

The National Coordinator of the group, Sunny Anderson Osiebe and General-Secretary, Fred Itua, had indicated that the group is an independent body that comprises journalists, Parliamentary workers and rights advocates, who have spent many years at the National Assembly.

According to Osiebe, the group would, eventually, support a candidate for the President of the Senate and other Presiding Officers of the National Assembly, who fit their bill for the different positions in line with national balancing, equity and justice.

Among the leaders of the group that participated in the engagements were Dominic Alancha, National Organising Secretary; Binta Pearl Ojoma, National Treasurer; as well as Chinedu Onyemesi, National Financial Secretary; and Nkem Anyata-Lafia, National Publicity Secretary.

The group equally said it would, in the bid to assess their individual programmes for the legislature, go further to engage with other legislators-elect, Godswill Akpabio, Orji Uzor Kalu, Governor Dave Umah,i as well as others who have expressed their intentions to run for the position of President of the Senate.