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From Tony John, Port Harcourt
The Niger Delta Rights Advocates (NDRA) has called on members of the House of Representatives to choose a pan-Nigerian candidate as Speaker, for the 10th National Assembly.
The group, which drums support for the lawmaker representing Bende Federal Constituency and current House spokesperson of the ninth Assembly, Benjamin Kalu, said the country needs a bridge builder with proven legislative experience.
Speaking for NDRA in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Mr Bright Ngolo, noted the contributions Kalu has made to the growth of the democratic process with the sponsorship of over 43 bills, combining it with the task of building bridges across several interests to stabilise the leadership of the ninth House of Representatives.
According to Ngolo, the emergence of Kalu as Speaker will change the complexities of politics in the South East and by extension Nigeria, and adequately capture critical demographics of the country that have agitated for proper inclusion and representation.
“Our group, the Niger Delta Rights Advocates (NDRA), being a frontline advocacy group in the region, have worked tirelessly in the 4th Republic to ensure the protection of the lives and livelihood of the long-suffering people of our region whose aquatic flora and fauna has experienced the worst of a form of devastation owing to crude exploitation and exploration,” he said.
“Our group, therefore, owes a duty to our people and, indeed, Nigerians not to fall for the age-long debate of zoning, religion, class or age, which are sentiments and gimmicks crafted by political oppressors in order to continuously hold down the oppressed.
“The NDRA stands on the platform of merit, service, patriotic zeal, transparency and loyalty to the Nigerian project which are viral ingredients to unshackle our people from the twin evil of poverty and ignorance.
“We cannot talk about the leadership of the most important arm of the National Assembly, which aggregates the totality of our diversities as a people, without talking about getting a leadership that will prioritise the needs of the long-suffering and marginalised people, whether they are found in the Niger Delta or Benue, or Kafanchan or Kaura Namode.”
Ngolo continued: “In recent days, we have read of very pedestrian and jaundiced reasons the positions should be zoned or allocated to certain individuals, which we find very ridiculous and insulting to our collective sensibilities as Nigerians.
“We have also read personal attacks, rendition of ethnic jingoism, unnecessary sense of entitlements, attempts at projecting strongmen rather than institutions and others. All these points to one thing – the lack of democratic credentials by all those who seek to market and introduce obviously unqualified candidates to the Nigerian people as Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives.
“Gentlemen, politically speaking, no candidate vying on the platform of the ruling APC can win the Speakership position through the votes of APC Rep members alone. Since voting would be across party lines, it, therefore, requires that a candidate with multi-party acceptability be put forward and Representative Benjamin Kalu fits the bill.
“Therefore, the APC must do the right thing by choosing a pan-Nigerian candidate in the person of Representative Benjamin Kalu, member representing Bende Federal Constituency and current House Spokesperson of the ninth Assembly in order to give Nigerians a Speaker who embodies national and not ethnic, regional or religious sentiments.”
