News
South –East Governors under
Pressure over Power Sharing
Written by Chuks Ehirim, Abuja
As
Governors of the South-East geo-political zone prepare for their
crucial meeting in Enugu on Sunday, where they would be
discussing power sharing formula within the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), pressure is being mounted on them not to
succumb to intimidation and blackmail from external forces, and
let their zone down.
The PDP has been at war with itself over sharing the booties of
offices among the various interest groups that constitute the
party. Paramount among the offices causing ripples within the
ruling party are the positions of Senate President and
Speakership of the House of Representatives.
In the current dispensation since 2007, the Senate Presidency
was zoned to the North-Central while the Speaker was given to
the South West. But immediately after the April elections where
the PDP lost woefully in the South-West, and had a very
impressive outing in the South-East and the entire North,
political leaders from the South-East have loudly been agitating
that the position of either the Senate President or Speaker of
the House of Representatives be zoned to their area.
This
agitation is however, said to be facing stiff oppositions from
two main political camps in the country. Both former President
Olusegun Obasanjo and the current President of the Senate, David
Mark are said to have vowed to do anything humanly possible to
stop the South-East politicians, the Governors inclusive, from
realizing their ambition in this regard.
Realizing these threats to their collective interests, 34
members of the House of Representatives from the zone
(South-East), issued a statement Wednesday, making it clear to
whoever cares to listen, that the zone will not accept anything
outside these two positions.
The leadership of the apex Igbo Socio-cultural organization,
Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has also thrown its weight behind the demand
for either Senate Presidency or Speaker of House of
Representatives.
Speaking to this reporter on the issue, the Deputy National
Legal Adviser of the Ohanaeze, Barrister Oyibo Chukwu, had this
to say, “Our position as a people, as a geo-political zone, is
that Igbo strategic interest must be protected at all times and
this protection must be based on equality, justice and fair
play”.
He
added that “zoning arrangement is no longer a PDP affair. It is
a National Affair. There has been precedence in the past when
zones that did not vote for PDP, were relegated to the
background. This was done to the South-East in the past when
they voted for APGA. The Senate Presidency was taken away from
us and given to another zone. The PDP chairman was given to us
but was also taken away”.
He
warned of the consequences of not heeding to the demands of the
South-Easterners now. “It will be immoral and politically
suicidal for the South-East to be ignored this time around. I
think the South-East has earned the position of Senate
Presidency or Speaker of the House of Representatives. We are
not against the Yorubas. What we are saying is that what is due
for us must be given to us”, Chukwu said.
Also
commenting on the matter, the National Coordinator of an
Igbo-based political pressure group – South-East Patriotic Forum
(SEPAF), Chief Vincent Uzuakpunde, appealed to the South-East
Governors not to relent until justice is not only done but seen
to have been done in the m
“This is the time these Governors will have to display courage
and fight for the right of their people. If they back out and
refuse to fight to the end, then they will all live to regret
it”, said the SEPAF chief.
He appealed to all political organizations, institutions and
stakeholders in the zone, to give their support to the Governors
and ensure that they don’t back out until victory is won.
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