It is no longer news that the ninth National Assembly, which was inaugurated on June 11, 2019, will wind down this week.
While the House of Representatives will hold its valedictory session on Tuesday, the Senate will have its own on Wednesday.
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, will adjourn sitting at the Red Chamber sine die (indefinitely), and the Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, will close the Green Chamber on Thursday.
The 10th Assembly is billed for inauguration on June 13, 2023, when a new set of presiding officers will be either adopted or elected. Ahead of the inauguration, several pressure groups made up of intra and inter-party alliances had emerged in the Senate calling for the emergence of different members of the Senate, as the President
One key contender for the position of Senate President, Osita Izunaso has been at the centre of the news. He is a senator -elect for Imo West Senatorial District, Osita Izunaso, who has declared that he will be the next senate president.
In spite of the consensus meeting which settled for Godswill Akpabio as the consensus ‘candidate’ of the the All Progressives Congress as Senate President, a former chairman of the Senate Committee on Gas and Housing, Senator Osita Izunaso, on Wednesday, insisted that he still very much aspires to lead the Senate of the 10th National Assembly in the best interest of the nation.
The kind of confidence Izunaso exudes has been outstanding, even during his days at the 9th Assembly. Izunaso, a graduate of the University of Jos (1989), has a post-graduate degree in journalism from the University of Abuja (1998) and an MBA from the University of Calabar (2002).
A man who has risen through the rungs of the tedious ladder of politics, Izunaso was elected to the House of Representatives in 1992 and again in 1999. A thorough bred Journalist, he was a Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker and Senate President. He was Chief Press Secretary to the Minister of Youth and Sports (1995–1997) and was Minister of Labour & Productivity (1998–1999).
As soon as he took his seat in the Senate, Izunaso was appointed to committees on Rules & Business, Local and Foreign Debts, Housing, Gas, Foreign Affairs and Sports. In a mid-term evaluation of Senators in May 2009, ThisDay noted that he had sponsored bills for the Conveyance of Persons in Articulated Vehicles Bill, Treatment and Care of Victims of Conflict, National Agency for the Promotion and Preservation of Local Languages in Nigeria and Amendment of the Oil Pipelines Act Amendment. He contributed to plenary debates and was active in committees.
As Chairman of the Committee on Gas he was responsible for a controversial investigation into an alleged huge increase in the contract sum of the Escravos GTL project from $1.7 billion to $5.9 billion.[4]
So, it was not a surprise to many of his colleagues when he made the declaration during a courtesy visit to the Nigeria Union of Journalists headquarters, Abuja. He has paid his due, many say.
Izunaso, who declared himself as the next senate president, insisted that he is the most qualified candidate for the office of the chairman of the National Assembly.
“I am the next senate president by the special grace of God but that doesn’t mean that we are not talking to other people.
“We are talking to Senator Abdul-Aziz Yari, we are consulting other people who are also contesting for the position of senate president. But I can assure you that at the end of the day, Osita will be the next senate president by the special grace of God,” he said.
He said nobody has been chosen by the party, adding that journalists should not make mistakes because according to him, when such an agreement is reached, all will know.
“The party is calling for better and further consultation. We have just gotten an invitation to meet, maybe on Sunday or Monday. So, nobody has been chosen by the party for the senate president’s office.”
His presence was felt in the senate, so much so that early in 2009 there were moves to recall him, with a petition submitted by people of the Orlu Senatorial District of Imo state to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu dismissed the threats as baseless, pointing to the excellent work the Senator had done for the people of the state.Izunaso is confident that he is in the race to win the seat of the Senate President and give the National Assembly “a clean and fresh breath.”
Izunaso, with his in depth experience, is poised to triumph at the election and make the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Senators, members of the House of Representatives and the entire nation proud of an Assembly administered by competence, experience, capacity and integrity, comparable, if not better than any in the advanced world.
At this juncture, we call on the leaders of the APC to douse the tension generated by the controversial zoning formula already heating the political atmosphere of the country by coming up with a zoning arrangement that would guarantee unity and national cohesion.
Olamide Adeniji is a member of the editorial team of TheScript Newspaper
