NASS LEADERSHIP: Pro-Igbo group in APC say party’s decision fueling calls for Biafra Republic

The decision by the All Progressive Congress (APC) to zone the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives to the South-west has been kicked against by a pro-Igbo group within the ruling party.

The group also claimed that many years after the civil war, “the South-East and indeed the former eastern region comprising the lgbo, ltsekiri, lbibio, Tiv, Idoma, Jukun and many others are still faced with rejection, denials, deprivations and exclusion, of political and socio-economic ramifications.

“Regrettably, this scenario continues to fuel and amplify the voice of few of our agitating brothers who purport to seek the end of the union, in the absence of fairness and justice”.

Many people of the south east region have used the claim of being marginalized politically, to justify claims for secession, and a Biafra Republic

While speaking with newsmen in Abuja, Hon Chris Onyemechara, the convener of the group known as the South-East Renaissance, stated that it amounted to avarice for the zone to show interest in the Green Chamber after it has secured the position of Vice President.

In that regard, Onyemechara said that it would have been a sensible thing for the APC and the Presidency to zone the position of Speaker to the South-east instead of the South-west.

He said: ”From established political norms and antecedents, in the spirit of natural justice and equity, what we thought our party would have naturally bequeathed us the Senate Presidency or the Speakership of the House of Representatives but they are now subjects of political contention and controversy.

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“However, now that the party, in its wisdom, has decided to zone the Senate President position to the North-East, we strongly believe that the just and equitable thing for our party to do, is to zone the Speakership of the House of Representatives to the South-East. Instead, what we see are without sense of justice which distorts the pattern of fair sharing as intended by the Federal Character clause in our constitution.

“A situation where the same geopolitical zone which produced the Vice President of the country and the National leader of our party, is seen scheming and demanding, with a bloated sense of entitlement, the Speakership of the House of Representatives, smacks of political avarice, brazen injustice and grave disservice to good conscience.”

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