As the race for the leadership of the 10th National Assembly gets closer, a group by the name Igbo Mandate Movement Group has called in the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC to zone the Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives under the 10th Assembly to the SouthEast zone and has also tipped Honourable Benjamin Kalu ( Bende Federal Constituency) as the best man for the job.
This was made known at a press conference which was held in Enugu.
The coordinator of the group, Mr. Igboeli Arinzechukwu Napoleon, explained why the APC ought to zone the seat to the SouthEast Region.
Igboeli, noted that following the election of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Senator Kashim Shettima as President and Vice President Elects, it was incumbent on NdiIgbo as the one of the nation’s major ethnic groups to begin its own search for its path to the center.
He stated that only four zones could equitably lobby for positions within the National Assembly and it would be common sense politics to zone these positions to these regions to ensure regional balancing as well as fairness and equity.
Igboeli stated that the decision to canvass for the Office of the Speaker to the SouthEast was based on a number of sacrosanct facts.
He said: ”The first of such is based on the historical fact that since the emergence of Rt. Hon Ume Ezeoke, as Speaker of the House of Representatives in the Second Republic under the auspices of the Accord Concordiale between the NPN and the NPP, no Igbo man has occupied the position of speaker.
“The second is that under the 4th Republic, NdiIgbo again are the only major ethnic group that is yet to produce one of.their.own as Speaker of the House of Representatives. So you can imagine that in 24 years of our democratic experimenting, three zones being the NorthWest, NorthEast and South West and two major ethnic groups in the Hausa Fulani and the Yoruba have occupied the positions of Speaker save for NdiIgbo.
“The Third fact is that true Nigerians must be desirous of seeking to reintegrate NdiIgbo into the mainstream politics of the nation, there is need for NdiIgbo to be strategic in its interactions with other regions that make up the Nigerian nation, thus we must present only our best not only for purposes of acceptability but also for strategic reasons.
The APC as a party must move towards the reunification of Nigeria by seeking to reintegrate the SouthEast region, but to do so, it must deploy it's best hands; people who will not only seek power for themselves but will seek to serve the people and then present the APC as the beautiful bride to NdiIgbo.
“The fourth and the most important is that NdiIgbo must move with the times and trends of today’s politics by entrenching new faces, faces devoid of the many baggages, blemishes and scars of our past politics in which everything and anything did go? We can thus be afforded such by queuing up behind such a new face from where we can begin to chart a new course for NdiIgbo’s politics.”
Igboeli further stated that the IMMG had resolved to endorse the ambition of Honorable Benjamin Kalu to become Speaker, basing its choice for Kalu on his unwavering commitment to the ideals of Igbo and Nigerian progress , his impeccable records as a rep member for the past four years and lastly his unalloyed commitment to the presidential aspiration of the President Elect, Senator Bola Tinubu, which has nearly cost Kalu his life and had seen the torching of his campaign office.
He added: “A young man with no baggage, Honorable Benjamin Kalu cuts as the new breed of Igbo politicians who can help build bridges between NdiIgbo and other ethnic regions , a role or characteristic he much displayed as spokesperson of the House of Representatives.
“Honorable Benjamin Kalu will be no green horn to the workings of the Office of Speaker haven been a stabilizing factor for the Femi Gbajabiamialla era, as one with an impressive understanding of the workings of the National Assembly as well as a rich mix of both private and public experiences, Honorable Benjamin Kalu would avail the nation such energy, passion and knowledge for a greater Nigeria.”