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Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe
Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, a leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has claimed that politics in Nigeria is not for the poor, arguing that the wealthy entirely control the political sphere in the nation.
Ogunlewe who spoke on Wednesday on Arise TV’s The Morning Show made this remark while reacting to the political scuffle over who would lead the 10thNational Assembly.
New Telegraph had early weeks back reported that the National Working Committee of the APC released the zoning formula for the leadership of the 10thNational Assembly, picking Godswill Akpabio (Akwa-Ibom/South-South) for President of the Senate; Jibrin Barau (Kano/North-West) for Deputy President of the Senate; Tajudeen Abbas (Kaduna/North-West) for Speaker; and Benjamin Kalu (Abia/South-East) for Deputy Speaker.
However, a number of contenders for the leadership roles in the Senate and the House of Representatives have spoken out against the APC leadership zoning plan, pledging to run against the party’s preferred candidates.
The candidates for the APC and the G-7, a group of aspirants who disagree with the zoning plan of the ruling party, are counting on the votes of the newly elected members, who outnumber the returning members and members-elect in the opposition parties, who collectively have more supporters than the ruling party.
Speaking on the programme, Ogunlewe noted that only wealthy men can aspire to lead the Senate or the National Assembly itself.
“As I said how many years ago, Nigeria politics is not for the poor. No matter how much you describe it, it’s for the rich. If you don’t have enough funds, just don’t come into politics; you will never get through. And that is the truth.
”So a poor man can’t say, I am a senator or a poor person can’t say, I want to be the President of the Senate.
“How does it work out? You must be able to stand very solid to be able to play politics in Nigeria; very very solid.
“There’s nobody who is going to be a Senator today who will be a poor person. They are not poor,” Ogunlewe said. (New Telegraph)
