77 Senators Okay Mark For Senate Presidency

North Central Caucus Offers Block Vote

Ex-Senate Whip Backs S’East For Reps Speaker

A GROUNDSWELL of support has developed for  the bid of  David Mark to assume a fresh presidency of the Senate.

Already, no fewer than 77 senators across the six geopolitical zones of the country have endorsed him while senators from the North Central zone have assured him of block vote            But, the former Chief Whip of the Senate, Rowland Owie, yesterday criticised moves by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to cede the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives to the South West.

He said the position should rather be ceded to the South East where the PDP won “convincingly” in the just-concluded general elections.

Speaking with journalists yesterday, Owie said Mark deserved to remain as president so as to stabilize the system but that the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives should be ceded to the South East which supported the PDP  more than the South West.

“Nigerians should recall that when Obasanjo was President from the South West, one of the other zones from the South produced the Senate President, that was the South East. When Yar’Adua came from North West, one of the other two zones in the North, North Central produced the Senate President. Now the President is from the South South, therefore the logical thing is for one of the two zones in the South to take the Senate President.

“The ideal zone to take it should have been the South East. The Speaker of the House of Reps would have then gone to the zone that is not producing the National Chairman in the North. However, Senator David Mark has performed creditably as the leader of the National Assembly and he needs to be there to give stability to the system.

“The midway alternative that the PDP must adopt will be to retain Mark as Senate President and then zone the Speakership of the House of Reps to the South East. South West must not be in contention at all. After all, the Chairman Board of Trustees, is from South West,” he said.

Addressing a press conference in the National Assembly yesterday where they announced their support for Mark’s ambition, senators from the North Central zone led by Smart Adeyemi said the president of the Senate had performed well by stabilising the polity and deserved to be encouraged to continue in office.

They said Mark had the ability and experience required to steer the ship of the Senate, adding that his leadership in the last four years stabilised the chamber and the entire country.

They listed the  “doctrine of necessity”, which pulled the country from the brink of chaos last year when the late President Umaru Musa YarÁdua died as one of the great achievements of the president of the Senate.

“We believe that it’s our responsibility to support him because, we feel he is the best man for that position. He has done an excellent job as Senate president,” Senator Adeyemi said.

“He played a very statesmanlike role in steering the ship of the Senate and he is a listening person who carries every one along. He is also patient and has shamed our critics as far as his military background is concerned.

“He allows for fairness and equality. He also accommodates all views in the chamber, irrespective of party lines. Many did not believe that it would happen but because of his ability and experience, we were able to record success, which also led to the free and fair elections we have had,” they said.

They continued: “ Our standing rules in the Senate favour Senator David Mark and let us also inform you that this representation cuts across party lines and we are sure that at the end of the day, we are all going to have the kind of Senate president that we would all be proud of.”

They maintained that a lot of reforms were introduced in the polity and it would only be favourable for the country if Mark remained in office for the sake of continuity.

“There are a lot of reforms that are ongoing and democracy would suffer should we drop Mark because the speaker of the House of Representatives is not coming back,” they posited.

Some other senators-elect, including former governor of Nassrawa State, Dr. Abdullahi Adamu, spoke glowingly about Mark: “I am not here by accident. I am here because I believe that he has the ability and experience. I knew him as a captain in the Nigerian army. I have also followed his activities since he became a senator in 1999 and I was elected governor of Nassrawa State.

“I have worked closely with him and I know he is competent. I also believe that off-loading parliamentarians cannot help the system.”

Adeyemi who is also one of Mark’s campaign managers disclosed that as at the last count, 77 senators-elect had signed for Mark.  “We are here this afternoon to address the press on our position. I remember in 2007, we addressed a similar press conference even though we did not have any idea of the ability of distinguished senator David Mark ability.

“Now we are talking to you because we cannot afford not to support David Mark because we feel he is the best with very outstanding qualities.

“We, as senators from the north central zone feel that he is the best choice for now.  We also believe that some of the speculations that some people may contest the position of the senate may be put to rest there might be no contest at all. As we speak to you, 77 senators have endorsed the candidature of David Mark for Senate president’’, he declared.

Former governor of Plateau State and senator-elect, Joshua Dariye said: “This project is such that would move this country forward. I am part of this process and the project would work

-Guardian

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Posted by admin on May 13 2011. Filed under Legislature, Senate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry