The National Unity Group (NUG) has called on the All Progressives Congress (APC) and President-elect, Bola Tinubu to consider zoning the positions of Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives to the South East and North West respectively in the 10th assembly.

According to the group’s national chairman, Omotayo Gbadebo, this move would help ease tensions in the two regions and promote equity, fairness, and stability in the country.

“We are urging the APC leadership and president-elect to pay special attention to the appropriate zoning of principal offices and political positions in the next administration,” said Gbadebo.

“We are very sure that if this is done, peace will return to the troubled areas in the country, some of these senseless killings will end and tension will be doused. The president-elect needs an atmosphere of tranquillity to restore hope to Nigerians. The Renewed Hope vision can only be achieved if the enabling environment is provided," he added.

The NUG stressed that while competence and capacity should not be sacrificed on the altar of religion or region, Nigeria is a diverse nation that requires sensitivity to its religious, sectional, and ethnic differences. The group emphasized the importance of an inclusive government that caters to the interests of all discerning tendencies.

The NUG also recalled that at the beginning of the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration in 1999, the then-ruling party deployed zoning of offices to give every part of the country a sense of belonging.

“Presently, there are mindless killings in the South East and agitations as it was in the South West then. Let the party give them Senate President so that they can have a sense of belonging in the Nigerian project,” said the group.

“For North West, it is the biggest geopolitical zone with the highest number of votes (2.9m) in the presidential elections, which is approximately 34 per cent of the total votes that gave the president-elect victory," he emphasised. (Daily Sun)

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