As lawmakers continue to jostle for the position of the Senate President ahead of the upcoming 10th National Assembly, spokesman for the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed has come out to insist that it is unhealthy for the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial arms of government to be headed by people from one section of the country.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE TV’s ‘News Day’ program on Thursday, Dr. Baba-Ahmed faulted the alleged moves being made by the President and the APC to ensure that the seat of the Senate Presidency goes to the South instead of the northern region of the country.
According to him, the office of the President, and that of the Chief Justice of Nigeria are already occupied by persons from the South, and it would not bode well for Nigeria if the Senate is headed by another person from the same region.
He said; “It is not the business of the Executive arm of government to determine who leads the National Assembly. The President should allow the lawmakers to choose who leads them as Senate President.
Now, if you talk about ceding the seat to the South because of the issue of religion and faith, let’s not forget that the head of the executive arm of government is from the Southern part of this country.
And I say again that we have no apologies for always saying that northerners are very accommodating people.
Northern voters gave President Tinubu substantial votes for his victory. Let’s not also forget that the head of the Judiciary is also from the Southern part of this country. That makes it two out of the three arms of government that are headed by Southerners.
Now, if I were to say that for the sake of equity, justice, and fairness, and if someone were to make a case for a northerner to lead the legislative arm of government, on what ground would you fault it?
It won’t be good if all three arms of government are headed by people from one side of the country. It’s not healthy for us as a nation.”