Senator Ike Ekweremadu’s re-election on Tuesday as Deputy President of Senate has “no nexus with whatever appointive position meant for the South East zone,” therefore, the Enugu State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) says it is not bothered about that.
The state’s APC Chairman, Dr. Ben Nwoye, and another chieftain, Onyemuche Nnamani, speaking separately, dismissed insinuations that some APC chieftains in the zone conspired to back Ekweremadu so as to deny the zone the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) slot.
According to Nwoye, the two positions are unrelated to what happened in the Senate floor. He said: “Many people have come up with a lot of conspiracy theories but I personally believe that Ekweremadu has the right to contest for the position of Deputy President of Senate and he contested and won.
“The right to appoint the SGF belongs to the President and he is taking his time to ensure that a square peg is in a round hole.”
He stated further that if Ekweremadu defects to APC to regularise his position, it would not change his belief that APC is made stronger by defections from other political parties. As Igbo, however, Ekweremadu should not be punished for the wrongs of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he insisted.
“President (Muhammadu) Buhari is meticulous; he declared that he was not going to interfere in the election of the National Assembly leadership. It is not good therefore to tie the non-appointment of the SGF, Chief of Staff and National Security Adviser to the internal affairs of NASS,” he said.
However, Nnamani said it was possible that Buhari was awaiting the emergence of officers before making additional appointments. He blamed the controversy at the National Assembly on those who wanted to influence the outcome of the leadership selection process by attempting to move the Senate leadership from North Central zone.
Nevertheless, if Ekweremadu’s election hurts the political interest of Ndigbo in the APC-Federal Government, it should be seen as evidence of “greed and selfishness of some prominent Igbo leaders who failed to factor our collective interest” into the emerging scheme of things in the country. – Guardian.
