APC rules out southeast for deputy senate president after dropping Uzor Kalu over his N7.6bn fraud case

ALL Progressives Congress (APC) leaders appear to have settled for the south-south geo-political zone producing the next deputy senate president after they ruled out Orji Uzor Kalu getting the position on behalf of the southeast.

On May 29, the new National Assembly will be inaugurated and one of the first things it will be will be to elect its principal officers. Nigeria has an informal zoning system under which the president, vice president, senate president, deputy senate president, speaker of the House of Representatives and deputy speaker are each from one of the country's geo-political zones.

With President Muhammadu Buhari coming from the northwest and vice president Professor Yemi Osinbajo coming from the southwest, the APC has zoned the position of senate president to the northeast. This has left the deputy speakership position open to senators from the south-south and southeast, with former Abia State governor Senator-elect Kalu being one of the front runners.

However, APC leaders say that apart from the division in the southeast caucus of the National Assembly on the matter, the only senator-elect on the party’s platform from the zone eyeing the office was unfit for it. Senator Kalu still has a case with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over a N7.6bn ($21m) fraud matter, relating to when he was the Abia State governor between 1999 and 2007.

Consequently, APC has ruled out the southeast geo-political zone in its search for a new deputy senate president and opted for the south-south. APC sources said that the decision was reached after the party discovered that Senator Kalu was not likely to sail through if the party offered the zone the job.

Apparently, President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the party leadership not to present any APC senator-elect facing criminal trials for any principal office of the National Assembly. Senator Kalu has repeatedly asked the APC to consider him for the office as the only of the party's senator-elect from the zone who has so far been issued with a certificate of return by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

One party leader said: “Zoning the position to the southeast where it has only one senator-elect with corruption charges hanging over him may give the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) a possible opportunity again to grab the seat the second time. The party may have decided to zone the position to the south-south since the only APC senator-elect from the southeast is still standing trail over an alleged N7.6bn fraud and his election is also being challenged at the election petitions tribunal, so the party cannot take the risk of presenting him for the job.

"The best option is to zone it to the south-south and the party is now considering the south-east for the deputy speaker slot. We don’t know the fate of Governor Rochas Okorocha and Senator Benjamin Uwajimogu whose elections are still shrouded in controversies.

“We have nothing against the south-east but we as a party cannot zone the position of deputy senate president to the region when the only senator-elect from there is yet to clear himself of the alleged N7.6bn fraud.”

An APC chieftain and councillor-elect of Wuse Ward, in the Federal Capital Territory, Mathias Aliu, sais the south will be cheated if the APC does not endorse Senator Francis Alimikhena for the position of deputy senate president. Senator Alimikhena, a retired military officer and second term senator, currently represents Edo North Senatorial District and is the deputy majority whip of the senate.