The 10th National Assembly should give particular consideration to the principle of national unity, competency and equity in electing the next set of its principal officers to avoid intractable distrust and crises, the Coalition of United Political Parties advised on Friday.
The organisation said that every region and religion and all-round leadership capacity must be put into consideration in the choice of leadership to give a sense of belonging to everyone in the Nigerian project.
The National co-spokesperson for CUPP, Mark Adebayo, who issued the advice in Abuja, said the ethnoreligious configurations of Nigeria must not be ignored in the choice of the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives.
According to him, the National Assembly members-elect must never allow pecuniary factors to determine the choices to be made but should consider national unity, equity and leadership capacity.
He said, “All hands must be on deck to ensure that justice prevails in choosing the next set of National Assembly principal officers, particularly the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The ethnoreligious configurations of Nigeria must be taken into deliberate consideration in deciding who and who emerges the next Senate President and Speaker of the House.
“Every region and religion and all-round leadership capacity must be put at the forefront of consideration for choosing those to occupy those sensitive positions in order to give a sense of belonging to everyone in the Nigerian project. To ignore these crucial factors is to set up the country for intractable distrust and crises.”
They called on all stakeholders to ensure that justice is not only done but clearly seen to be done in the final analysis.
CUPP also said they would continue to watch closely the processes that would lead to the emergence of these important officers noting that the next set of National Assembly leaders must be men or women of integrity, competency, undoubted patriotism and creative leadership credentials.