A socio-political group under the aegis Oduduwa Frontiers, has condemned the undue interference in the selection process of leadership of the 10th National Assembly (NASS) by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and some forces.
Stating that lawmakers should be allowed to elect their officers, Kolawale Adediji Kazeem, the group’s national president in a statement on Saturday, disclosed that there should an open contest for members to exercise their democratic rights.
According to him, any attempt to force presiding officers on lawmakers would paint the incoming administration as despotic and undemocratic regime.
Kazeem furthered that the APC should not repeat what transpired in the Eighth Assembly when Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara emerged Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, against the wish of the Party.
“The Odudwa Frontiers has observed the manifestation of a grand plot to paint a dark picture of the incoming President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and by implication the entire Yoruba nation by introducing a new deliberate twist in the leadership tussle for the National Assembly.
“This calculated design to give the incoming Asiwaju administration a bad name even before it takes off, is without doubt, part of the disturbances that have been created since the emergence of a South Western presidency.
“In particular, the despotic move to zone the National Assembly leadership positions to suit certain vested interests with false love for the President-elect only aims to set a dangerous foundation of distrust and suspicion as traps to undermine the incoming administration.
“Everyone knows the democratic antecedents of Asiwaju and his unbending commitment to democratic principles of fair-play and the right of choice.
“Instances abound where Asiwaju insisted on democratic participatory processes even at the expense of his own personal interest.
“In the buildup to the formation of the Eighth Assembly in 2015, Asiwaju jettisoned his personal political interest and insisted on a democratic process involving election by the duly elected members.
“And just recently, even though well-deserved, Asiwaju turned down every opportunity to be anointed as sole candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, for the presidential election and instead, insisted on democratic primaries.
“It would, therefore, be misplaced to believe that a man with such high commitment to democratic processes would be involved in such unconstitutional actions.
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“We, therefore, join the Southern Governors Forum and other concerned Nigerians in calling on the National Working Committee of the APC to follow the path of honour and justice by reversing the unsolicited, unpopular zoning proposal and allow democracy and its tenets to thrive.
“We also call on the President-elect to interrogate this skewed arrangement and give direction that reflects our collective commitment to equality, fairness, and inclusivity as basis for participatory democracy.
“As stakeholders in the affairs of the Southwest and Nigeria generally, we hereby corroborate the Chairman of the Southern Governors Forum’s views and adopt all the issues raised which are very sensitive, not only to the president-elect and the APC, but also to the corporate existence of the country.
“We warn the president-elect not to wave aside the views of the Southern Governors Forum and majority of his genuine lovers in other regions, in order to avoid falling into the traps laid to set him up against other sections of the country and damage the image of his administration even before it takes off.
“We hereby state our strong position that the manner in which the party leadership directly meddled in the affairs of the legislative arm of government, which is an independent body, amounts to an infringement on the constitutionally guaranteed legislative independence and autonomy.
“We warn that the APC cannot afford to make the mistake of allowing the repeat of what transpired in the Eighth Assembly when Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara emerged Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“On a final note, we call on the APC to replay its exemplary leadership of allowing open contest and level ground for the party primaries that paved way for the emergence of the Asiwaju as its presidential candidate.
“It is, therefore, expedient for the APC to allow open contest for all interested candidates irrespective of region or geopolitical zone and allow the members of the National Assembly to vote for their leaders,” he said.
