10th NASS :NNPP Senator-elect cautions against zoning by APC

By Iyojo Ameh

The Senator-elect from Kano South Senatorial District, Sulaiman Kawu, warned the All Progressives Congress (APC) not to repeat past mistakes by zoning the position of Presiding Officers of the Senate.

Kawu, a member of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP)gave the warning in Abuja at a News briefing

He said the action of the APC is an insult to opposition members-elect of the 10th National Assembly.

He urged the APC and the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to do the right thing through consultation of National Assembly members-elect and other critical stakeholders to arrive at what needs be done.

Kawu said: “In the 7th Assembly during President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, you are all aware how the executive intended to stop us from exercising our constitutional right.

“Now there are so many challenges we face in making sure that we consolidate the gains of democracy more especially the parliament. Now the 10th Assembly is about to be inaugurated, suddenly we saw a letter directing the members of the National Assembly to abide by the decision of the National Working Committee of the APC.

“For us, as veterans in this game. For us who have suffered a lot in defending the sanctity of the National Assembly we believe it is an insult.

“The National Assembly is an organ of government. It is not an agency of the Federal Government and the role of a political party is to guide, but they can’t dictate the selection of the Presiding Officers in the National Assembly.

“The constitution is very clear that we should choose among ourselves irrespective of party. and we are very lucky this time around the opposition constitute almost 48 per cent of the total population of the Senators-elect while the majority party has 52 per cent.

“When you go to the House of Representatives, it is the opposition that has the majority even though it is a combination of the different political parties. We thought the President-elect and the APC, will learn from past mistake in the 7th Assembly when President Jonathan intended to dictate to us where we would go in the selection of Speaker of the House of Representatives.

“We said no. We must follow the rule of law and the Constitution and we must be guided by the rules of the House.