Ahead of the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly agitations for zoning of the key positions are increasing daily. But is zoning the right way to go? TOPE SUNDAY asks in the report.
All eyes are on the 10th National Assembly as the 9th Assembly is winding down. Now, aside from the debates over the 2023 presidential elections, who becomes what in the 10th Assembly is one of the issues dominating the political discourse in the country. However, amidst all this, agitations for zoning and religious balancing of the NASS leadership are also on the front burner.
APC’s lead
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has the majority members in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
A breakdown of the 109 senators for the 10th National Assembly shows that APC has 59 members, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), 36; the Labour Party, eight; Social Democratic Party (SDP), two; the New Nigerian Peoples Party, two; while Young Progressives Party and All Progressives Grand Alliance Party (APGA) has one senator each.
Also, the breakdown of the members to compose the 10th Assembly as members of the House of Representatives shows that APC has 174 members, while the opposition parties have 186 members.
The positions
In line with the traditions of the National Assembly, the APC is expected to produce the major leadership for both chambers, having produced the highest number of members as the ruling party.
However, no fewer than eight senators have indicated interest in the top leadership positions of the 10th NASS. Top among the contenders are Senators Jibrin Barau (Kano Central), Sani Musa (Niger East), Orji Kalu (Abia North), GodswillAkpabio (Akwa-Ibom North West), and Osita Izunaso (Imo West).
Also, Blueprint Weekend can report that the Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Wase; embattled Majority Leader, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa; chairman of the House Committee on Navy, Yusuf Gagdi; chairman, House Committee on Appropriations, Aliyu Betara; chairman, House Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness, Abdulraheem Olawuyi, and others have also indicated their interest to contest the speakership position.
However, there have been growing agitations for zoning and religious balancing of the NASS leadership positions. According to the promoters of zoning, the national leadership positions should be zoned to placate some Nigerians, and others said the zone which produced the highest votes for the APC presidential candidate, who is now the president-elect, should be considered for the senate presidency. For the promoters of religious consideration, they argued that a Christian Southerner should be considered for the Senate presidency because of the Muslim-Muslim ticket that produced the president-elect.
Senate presidency
Speaking with this reporter, an Abuja-based Journalist, Abdulrahman Aliagan, said for justice and fairness, the leadership positions of the 10th National Assembly should be zoned to either the South-east or South-south. He particularly cautioned that despite zoning, competence should not be jettisoned.
He said: “For justice, equity, and fairness, it becomes more than necessary for the leadership of the 10th National Assembly to be zoned, particularly, the Senate Presidency to the other zone, which is either South-east or the South-south. This is because Nigerian politics has been majorly defined by two critical factors or sentiments which are tribal and religion whether we like it or not.
“Now, of the three major languages that define our ethnic identity, Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo and given the outcomes of this year’s general elections, the positions of number one and two have been clearly settled which have been occupied by Yoruba and Hausa, and the number three position without any doubt should be conceded to the people from South-east or South-South. Also, it must be a Christian to settle our religion’s differences.
“With this, as a country, we would have balanced our political system based on ethnicity and religious nationalities for National unity and peaceful co-existence. For me, since power should be zoned, competency, capacity, and integrity should not be jettisoned. These qualities must not be absent in the person to be elected to the coveted positions.
“Yes, when we are talking about South, it includes South-south and South-East, in the two geopolitical zones there are competent and experienced people that are of unblemished credentials, and they should be elected to man the leadership of the 10th Assembly. At this juncture, the political zoning system may not be enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution, but it has been the oil that has been lubricating our political system and therefore stabilizing it as well as making everybody a sense of belonging in the project called Nigeria.
‘If we look at it, whether we like it or not, zoning played a critical role in this year’s presidential election because it was unanimously agreed that power must shift to another zone, which is South. So, it’s good, healthy and logical to zone the NASS leadership positions.”
‘Dynamics’ve weakened zoning’
On his part, a legislative aide at the National Assembly, Mr. Aliyu Usman, said many dynamics have weakened the arguments about zoning, and queried whether the zone which produced the highest votes for president-elect should be sacrificed because of zoning.
He said: “For our heavily moderated politics and governance process, zoning or in some instances, rotation of positions has become a very key factor in how the divergent interests of the political elite have been managed to keep the country going. At first, this zoning was simply about balancing, but later it also became a way of rewarding zones for their political contributions.
“The 2023 elections are the 8th consecutive elections in the 4th republic, and many dynamics have begun to emerge that weaken the argument for zoning. For instance, should a high voting bloc be sacrificed for a zone that returned the lowest votes for a candidate, for the sake of national interest? The APC has to cross this bridge concerning the National Assembly positions concerning the southeast advocacy to pacify and the northern demand for a reward for delivering huge votes.
“Personally, I am indifferent, but if I have to choose, I am likely to advocate rewarding hard work and loyalty. After all, it is the National Assembly, an independent arm of government that should be left to choose its own leader without the interference of zoning or whatever guise. However, our political elites are too selfish and destructively vocal.”
Usman said further that, “They have mastered the intrigue of acquiring political power that is unmerited if the voting outcome is the yardstick. In the USA where we copied our presidential system, and even other Democratic jurisdictions, people who lose elections accept defeat and move on. But in Nigeria they raise dust, and ethnicise the power struggle with allusions to violence and strife.
“It is not about governance but about an elite settlement which is couched in beautiful innuendos like ‘sense of belonging’. I think it should be about governance. That said the arrangement has been working for Nigeria and I expect it to be upheld.”
Religious sentiments
Also, a political scientist, Mr. Femi Fayomi, in his view, told this reporter that religious sentiments should be factored into the 10th NASS leadership struggle to allay the fear of domination of one religion over the others.
Fayomi, a lecturer at the Department of Political Science of the Federal University of Oye-Ekiti, said: “It is not out of place to make calls for the zoning of the office of Senate president and speaker of the Senate and House of Representatives respectively given the secularity and plural nature of Nigeria.
“Although, the call may circumvent the tenet of democracy which is centred on the dictum of majority rule, it is pertinent to note that the need to balance our dividing sentiments or cleavages makes the clamour inevitable especially that the Executive will be firmly occupied by two persons from the same faith.
“To avert crisis and rancour in the 10th National Assembly, the ruling party and the team of opposition parties should intensify efforts to reach out across the divide to have a consensus leadership. This is important given the fact that for the first time in the fourth republic, opposition parties have majority seats in the House of Representatives, and the ruling party has a simple majority of seats in the Senate.
“While considering the call for zoning of the leadership positions, the political actors should factor the religious sentiments to allay the fear of domination of one religion over the others.”
