10th NASS Leadership: Ndume says open competition better than zoning

Ali Ndume, a senator for Borno South Senatorial District, has argued that the 10th National Assembly’s leadership should be inclusive rather than restricted to particular geographical regions in Nigeria.

Ndume, a guest on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, also stated that he is awaiting a decision on the leadership of the new Senate and House of Representatives from his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is now in power.

With more than 55 Senate seats out of 109 and more than 160 out of 360 House of Representatives seats, the APC won the majority of the legislative seats during the elections.

Many APC chieftains and legislative member-elect have expressed interest in the highly coveted positions in the red and green chambers but Ndume said the time is not yet ripe for him to be Senate President though the constitution does not stop him from running.

READ ALSO: APC dismisses claim on zoning of National Assembly leadership positions

He said that his party produced the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu from the South-West zone and the Vice-President-Elect, Kashim Shettima from the North-East does not stop lawmakers from the two zone from aspiring to the leadership of the incoming 10th National Assembly.

“Of course, if I say I want to contest and the party say, ‘No, it’s not fair for the Senate President to come from the North or the North-East, do we then now say that we want to contest against the wish of the party which we did at one time and the aftermath was a bit clumsy and we don’t want to have a repetition of that?” Ndume asked.

“For me, the leadership of the National Assembly should be open in the first instance.

“The Senate President is not supposed to be a regional President; it’s a Senate President of the Nigerian Senate.

“We have 109 senators. The leadership emergence is not clearly stated. Section 50 of the constitution states that the Senate President shall be elected among the members.”

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