Member of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Presidential Advisory Council Prof Gregory Ibe has felicitated the South East Caucus of the National Assembly on appointment of some members from the zone as Chairmen and Deputy Chairman of Standing Committees of the 10th Senate.
Speaking on the heels of the recent reconstitution of the leadership of committees of the red chamber by the President of the 10th Senate, Godswill Akpabio, Prof Ibe specially congratulated Senators Enyinnaya Abaribe, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu, Chief Victor Umeh, Hon.Osita Izunaso, Engr.Patrick Ndubueze, Barr. Okechukwu Ezea and Onyeka Peter on their appointments as Chairmen and Deputy Chairman of Senate Standing Committees on Power, Privatization, Diaspora, Capital Market, Works, Ethics/Public Petitions and Public Accounts respectively.
Prof. Ibe particularly paid glowing tribute to South East members of the National Assembly who, according to him, have continued to distinguish themselves through sterling representation of the zone in the two chambers of the National Assembly.
In his words,” I want to also use this medium to pay tribute to the entire members of the South East Caucus in the two chambers of the current 10th National Assembly for their consistency in contending for the rights and privileges of the zone.
From the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Hon Ben Kalu, Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Resources, Hon Ugochinyere Ikeagwuonu, Minority Chief Whip of the Senate Chief Darlington Nwokocha, I have noticed the rare commitment of the South East Caucus to the collective aspirations and over all development of our zone”.
On the contentious issue of appointment of ministers, Prof Ibe enjoined President Bola Tinubu to hearken to the request of the South East Caucus for more ministerial slots in the federal executive as contained in a motion sponsored by fifteen Senators from the zone.
According to him, “In keeping with the adage that says ‘what is sauce for the goose is equally sauce for the gander’, I want to appeal to President Tinubu to hearken to the request contained in the motion sponsored by 15 Senators from the South East for the allocation of more ministerial slots to zone in his cabinet in order to be at par with the number nominated to represent other regions. I therefore join my very distinguished senators in requesting Mr President to nominate more eminently qualified persons from the South East in order to shore up the current number of five appointees from the zone to at least seven as is the case with the other five regions”.
He encouraged the South East Caucus to sustain the current tempo of representation by partnering with Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide in championing the cause of the people of the region.
It will be recalled that fifteen Senators from the South East had on Monday sponsored a motion during plenary on the floor of the Senate calling for parity in the number of ministerial nominees from the six regions of the nation in view of an observed short fall in the quantity of five persons selected from the zone.
Sleek Ogwo,ANIPR
