Dr Mbamalu has stated that Tinubu’s influence on the 10th National Assembly Leadership is an affront on democracy.
NewsOnline reports that the ongoing consultations and Scheming to Influence the emergence of principal officers of the Nigerian National Assembly by the executive arm, has been considered an affront on democracy given the principle of separation of power.
This was the submission of Dr Marcel Mbamalu, publisher and Editor-in-chief of Prime Business Africa, an independent online newspaper in Nigeria.
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This online newspaper understands that Dr Mbamalu, who appeared on Channels Television breakfast show, Sunrise Daily during newspaper review session on Tuesday morning, said that Nigeria at its level should not be preoccupied with the issue of the executive arm of government and the ruling party trying to decide who should take principal leadership positions in the national assembly as it ought to be decided by elected lawmakers through election.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) National Working Committee (NWC) on Monday had a meeting with the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to decide zoning arrangements for leadership positions in Senate and House of Representatives.
The party and Tinubu endorsed Senator Godswill Akpabio from Akwa Ibom, (South-South) for Senate President; Senator Barau Jubrin from Northwest as Deputy Senate President; Hon. Abass Tajudeen also from North West as Speaker, and Hon Ben Kalu from Southeast as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.
However, some lawmakers at both chambers of the parliament have kicked against the decision with some aspirants insisting on an open contest to determine who takes various positions.
Reacting to news reports on the development, Dr Mbamalu, a media scholar and entrepreneur said people outside the parliament can talk about their preferences but the lawmakers have the final right to decide who leads them through their voting in the floor of the National Assembly.
“It is an affront on democracy for we to begin to decide for the House who should lead them,” Mbamalu stated.
“Of course. We can say our minds; we can decide to say ‘this is the person we want but we don’t want that person.’ But then the house has the right to choose who leads them. And I think this is what should happen now. I think it’s being diversionary talking about who should be the senate president and who shouldn’t be the speaker of the house when it is the job of the house themselves to elect those to lead them.”
On the issue of zoning the Senate Presidency to the Southeast, Mbamalu said the region has the right to produce the Senate President for the sake of equity but if they are not allowed to do so, it leaves the region with “playing the third fiddle if you like.”
He however noted that most of the aspirants are campaigning based on how they want it to favour them, but competence should be the ultimate consideration.
He said the South East ought to be given a sense of belonging by being allowed access to certain top positions in the country’s leadership system given the past events.
Commenting on the presidential election petition tribunal trial which started on Monday, 8th May, Mbamalu, A former News Editor at The Guardian newspapers, queried the reason for the delay in commencing substantive trial before now so as to conclude the case on time.
He said such delays are at times deliberate and urged the judiciary to dispense with the matter in a way that will make Nigerians see that justice is served.
He noted that all eyes are on Nigeria now, adding that the judiciary needs to restore the confidence of the people in the system by the way they handle the current presidential election petition.
On the concerns about ethnoreligious sentiments creeping into the political system in Nigeria, the media guru said such occurs because of existing bad governance.
He contended that if there is good leadership at every level of government, nobody would worry about which tribe whoever is leading them comes from or their religious affiliation.
