…S/East, S/South won’t be marginalized — APC
By Ugochukwu Alaribe
ENUGU — Enugu West Peoples Forum has lashed out at the
South-East spokesman of All Progressives Congress, APC,
over his reaction to the comments credited to the Deputy
President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, that the
South East and South-South geopolitical zones decided to
contest for the office of the Deputy President of the Senate
when it became obvious that they were not in APC’s plans
for the first seven positions at the centre.
This came on a day the South East zone of APC expressed
outraged over the alleged crass and unimaginative
propaganda dished out by the Deputy Senate President,
Senator Ike Ekweremadu, on why he re-contested for his
former office.
The group in a statement signed by the National Coordinator,
Paul Anikwe, regretted that APC spokesperson in the South-
East, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, could not tell the difference
between appointive and elective positions in the Federal
Government, which Senator Ekweremadu referred to.
Ike Ekweremadu
The statement read in part: “We are surprised that the self-
appointed spokesman of the APC for the South-East does not
understand the difference between the first seven positions
in the Federal Government, namely President, Vice President,
Senate President, Speaker, Chief Justice of the Federation
(CJN), Deputy President of the Senate, and Deputy Speaker,
none of which is in the APC’s plan for the South East and
South-South.
“For all we know, APC’s official position for these offices are
North West for President, South West for Vice President,
North East for Senate President, North Central for Deputy
President of the Senate, South West for Speaker, North East
for Deputy Speaker in addition to the judicial arm of the
Federal Government, which is headed entirely by the North
East as CJN, President of the Court of Appeal, and Chief
Justice of the Federal High Court.”
The group said that such an exclusion of the South East and
South-South from these substantive positions, despite the
fact that the South East produced two APC members of the
House of Representatives in Imo State, and the South-South,
several members of the House of Representatives and a
senator, could not be compensated by appointive positions,
which occupants could be sacked at will.
“Besides, the ministerial positions which Mr. Okechukwu
referred to are entitlements of every state of the Federation
and the Federal Capital Territory, going by the provisions of
Section 147(1), (2), (3) and Section 302 of the 1999
Constitution as amended”, the statement added.
‘’Likewise, the group also said that the Federal Character
provisions in Section 14(3) and (4) of the Constitution as well
as provisions against discrimination in Section 42 of the
Constitution already covers the primary interest of the zones
in the appointment of ambassadors and other appointive
positions listed by Osita Okechukwu.
“Therefore, President Muhammadu Buhari would only be
deemed to have favoured the two zones if he appoints them
into key ministerial, ambassadorial, and other positions,” the
group added.
However, APC, South East, in its reaction, said: “For the
avoidance of doubt, as at June 13, when this unimaginative
propaganda was riled out to hapless and anxious crowd by
Senator Ekweremadu, President Muhammadu Buhari has not
named the Secretary to Government of the Federation,
ministers, advisers, ambassadors, boards etc. On which plank
was this propaganda predicated?
“We are, therefore, at a loss, why the senator should choose
this auspicious moment to play spoiler game by wittingly or
unwittingly throwing spanner on our wheel to clinch the
coveted office of Secretary to Government of the Federation.
Pundits may grab his unintended headline that we have been
settled.”
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