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BISIRIYU OLAOYE, Deputy News
Editor
SEN. Jonathan
Tunde Ogbeha has said zoning of the leadership position would deny the country
good leaders.
Stating this in an interview with Daily
Champion, Senator Ogbeha (Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Kogi West) said the
leadership position should not be based on ethnic or religious consideration but
should be on merit or what such person can offer.
Ogbeha, who was the military Governor of
the old Bendel State, was also the Chairman, Senate Committee on Water Resources
and member, Presidential Committee on Local Government Reforms.
"You see, zoning has its advantages. When
you talk about zoning, you will end up not bringing out your best. We are still
within the Senate, the Senate President is zoned and definitely, we are not
seeing our best.
"You may talk about ability but I do hope
we would grow out of this quagmire where you want to say because of political
stability, this post must go to this area. I want to see a situation where
Nigeria will do things based on merit.
"You want to choose the President because
he is qualified and he merits it not because of where he comes from. That is
what makes America great. In America, the President and his Vice can come from
the same area. It doesn’t matter once you are qualified.
"I want to see that happen and that is why
as long as we orientate our state, let us try and do away with ethnicity and
also religion because they are very complicated.
"Zoning is ethnicity, whether you like it
or not and it has spectators or regions too. I want to see us as brothers. Some
people are voting because candidate A is coming from the North or the South. It
shouldn’t be on that basis and the basis of our election should be whether that
man can deliver the goods," Ogbeha further stated.
He, however, believed that leadership of
the country should go round all the zones.
that "every Nigerian who is qualified to
serve should be free to stand elections."
Senator Ogbeha said he did not want a
situation where a region or zone would continue to dominate the leadership of
the country.
"First and foremost, it should go round
and when it goes round, everybody should be given equal opportunity to run that
job if you want to.
"Nobody should be excluded and that brings
the issue of zoning. I think zoning in the Nigerian context, was made expedient
and to solve an emergent problem, expediency of time. That is what zoning is.
"Because if you do not zone, you make
mistake. For instance, there are some states if you don’t apply the principle of
zoning some particular areas will never take the leadership of that state. And
that will be sad," he added.
He said there is good understanding now
between the executive and the legislature as against friction and political
bickering witnessed in the Upper House between 1999 and 2003.
The two-term Senator said: "We started in 1999 with high
hope, but we got bogged down with leadership crises in the Senate. What we have
now is one party politics where the majority of members are PDP and they are
forming a line with PDP policies and this has given way for a very healthy
relationship."
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