…urges members-elect to jettison zoning
Ben Peters, Abuja
An advocacy group, The Parliamentary Advocacy Network (PAN, Nigeria) has condemned the zoning arrangements of presiding officers’ positions in the National Assembly allegedly done by the ruling All Progressives Congress and the President-Elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
In a press conference held at the FCT Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Abuja on Thursday, Prince Anderson Osiebe , National Coordinator of the group said the fallout of the zoning arrangements have thrown the entire lawmakers-elect, their political parties and the nation at large into an avoidable collision course.
The group therefore, urged lawmakers-elect to take the destiny of the National Assembly as freely entrusted on to them by Nigerians in their own hands, jettison the vexed issue of the ill-advised zoning arrangements in favour of a WHOLLY OPEN CONTEST that will favour popularity, leadership zeal, competence
According to him, ” Gentlemen of the press, today as we sit before you, we have done all that we have above itemized and have also followed the various opinions and discourses on the leadership of the next Assembly in Nigeria. We have, therefore, in the spirit of patriotism that is completely detached from any agenda for the promotion of selves or our group interest come to present the position of the Parliamentary Advocacy Network on the myriad of issues that has trailed the quest for the next National Assembly to choose its Presiding Officers.
“Our group took time again to undertake an indepth analysis of all that has played out in the process of choosing the leadership of the two Chambers of the National Assembly and, indeed, the legislature across our States, the Network, therefore; Condemns in its entirety the interference and many glaring attempts of members of the Executive at both the National and State levels to choose Presiding Officers for members of the Legislature in these aforementioned jurisdictions;
“Notes that the Legislature is a different and an independent arm of government recognized as so by our Constitution and calls on members to resist by every legitimate means, including legal actions, all attempts by the Executive or their proxies at the Federal level and the States to inelegantly interfere in their affairs or make an attempt to bend or break the rules of such a legislative House or Houses in order to accord undue advantage to anyone among their members in the bid to choose a leader or leaders being favoured by the members of the Executive or their proxies;
“Affirms that, after 24 years of practicing our kind of Constitutional democracy, the legislature has come a long way and, therefore, retains at all levels its independence and financial autonomy accorded to it by our statute books and, therefore, urges lawmakers-elect never to be intimidated or muscled by any threats emanating from any Executive quarters or from their proxies; as well as True Nationalistic Characters and Fervour of all candidates for various positions; Calls on all lawmakers-Elect across the country to permanently remain resolute and committed to the complete independence of the Legislature and to continue to do everything to uphold same during the pendency of the 10th National Assembly and the various Assemblies in the States and reminds them that they can at all times count on the support of the people and the protection of the law.
“We thank the media for the support that we have received in the course of our various advocacies, especially in the past two months. Certainly, without your vigilance and committed support to our democracy since the onset of the 4th Republic, our democracy would have become easy prey in the jaws of the strongmen with the insatiable appetite to control everything, including the levers of power. We urge you to remain focused and gear yourselves to building and enthroning strong institutions instead of encouraging the rise of strongmen in our land. With that, we cannot but build the nation of our fondest dreams.”