A pro-democracy group, Progressives Forum (PF) has kicked against the candidature of Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, representing Delta Central, ahead of Tuesday’s inauguration of the 9th National Assembly, Igbere TV reports.
The group urged Omo-Agege to drop his Deputy Senate President ambition over his negative antecedents in the outgoing 8th Senate.
In a statement made available to Igbere TV on Sunday in Abuja, the group’s chairman, Comrade Olu Adisa said only people of proven track record should be appointed into key positions in the National Assembly.
He called on lawmakers-elect to be cautious of their proposed leadership for the sake of Nigeria’s growing democracy, noting that only people with goodwill across party lines will strengthen the National Assembly in its responsibilities.
Adisa, who acknowledged the imperative of a harmonious relationship between the legislative and executive arms of government, called on the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) not put forward people with bad antecedents, saying, “for the sake of fairness and equity, a deputy senate president of Igbo extraction will correct the imbalance in leadership positions.”
He said, “It is a known fact that Senator Ovie Omo-Agege was involved in the mace snatching saga in the 8th national assembly in 2018.
“It will be a slap on Nigerians for such person to emerge as deputy senate president.
“Nigeria’s democracy should not be taken backward for personal ambitions.
“We must rise up to protect the tenets of democracy.
“The 9th Senate must look in the direction of the south east for the position of deputy senate president.”
The PF, while stressing that the election of key officers for the 9th National Assembly is at the prerogative of its members, urged candidates for the position of Deputy Senate President, who are not of Igbo extraction, to drop their ambitions for Ndigbo to occupy the number two seat in the Senate.
