By; Charity Amayaenvbo
Let me first congratulate the newly elected president of the 10th Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and his Deputy, Distinguished Senator Godswill Akpabio and Senator Jibrin Barau on their well deserved victory.
In the same vain, I congratulate the Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives, Rt Hon Tajudeen Abbas and his Deputy Rt. Hon Benjamin Kalu.
APC and our Leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu dream in having a National Assembly that will complement the renewed hope agenda, is finally realized.
However, I am disturbed by the viral lists currently trending in all the social media platforms on the alleged voting patterns of the Senators-elects across the states as it relates to my own dear state, Edo state.
While it’s the right of every Senator -elects to vote according to his conscience and his choice of leaders or presiding officers of the National Assembly without interference but such rights are limited considering the supremacy of the party which every party member, no matter how highly place owes to the party.
It’s also a limited right as they were voted by their constituent whose interests and aspirations they are to represent at the National Assembly.
I am saddened to note that the purported voting list of Senators-elects across states has our own Edo Central Senator, Distinguished Senator Monday Okpebolo voting against the APC choice as well as the choice of our president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
If the authenticity of this viral document is true, it’s a sad development for Edo state APC and, in particular, Edo Central senatorial district – this is because, trust and party loyalty are essential elements as we head towards Edo 2024.
I therefore use this medium to call on the above-mentioned Senator to come out urgently to debunk with verifiable proofs or otherwise the purported voting viral lists as we shall not tolerate anymore, issues of anti-party and lack of party discipline in Edo APC no matter the caliber of persons involved.
Enough is enough.
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It is very important to ascertain the veracity of the allegation against the distinguished Senator Monday Okpebolo. He especially should come out and put the records straight as so as to calm frayed nerves and put the issue of his loyalty to the APC to rest.
Voting against the interest of the party which gave you a platform to realize your political ambition can not be justified by any political permutations or pressure. More so in a situation where you are supposed to demonstrate loyalty, trust, and belief in the party. Especially when you are engaged in the very first exercise or act to demonstrate your commitment to the party in choosing the party leadership in the National Assembly.
The Senator should realize that such acts of greed or selfishness if proven to be true is tantamount to derailing the ESAN AGENDA in 2024. Over to the Distinguished Senator.