Ndoma-Egba: APC Escaped Same Faith Ticket Crisis By Whisker

•Wants Muslim senators to drop Senate President bid

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

A former leader of the Senate, Victor Ndoma-Egba, yesterday, claimed the All Progressives Congress (APC) managed to escape with the same ticket brouhaha in the just concluded presidential election, and as such, warned that the party should not take the same route in the search for a senate president.

He, therefore, pleaded  with APC members from the north, who were  contemplating runningfor the position of the senate presidency to drop from race so as to ensure religious balance, saying they should excuse themselves from that ambition in the interest of the nation.

Ndoma-Egba, who spoke in Abuja at the second edition of New National Star Newspaper monthly breakfast meeting, begged that the position should be reserved for Christians.

At the breakfast meeting with the theme: ‘2023 General Election: A Postmortem’, the APC chieftain said, “Same faith ticket was a major problem for the  APC. Labour Party latched on it. We managed to survive it. Let’s not push our luck too far. It is not a matter of might. I appeal to our Muslim brothers from the north to excuse themselves from contesting the senate presidency. See it as a sacrifice for the sake of national interest,” he said.

Ndoma-Egba, who is also former chairman of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), admonished Nigerians to have faith in the country and continue to be patriotic as the unity, peace and prosperity of the country should be the guiding principles.

Also speaking at the occasion, a former Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu, who was the special guest, said the National Assembly should be saddled with the responsibility of appointing the Chairman and Members of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

According to him, this would make the electoral umpire truly independent without recourse to the biddings of executive and consequently eliminate electoral malpractices.

Earlier, in his opening remarks, the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, New National Star, Newspaper, Dr Obinna Nwachukwu, said there were divergent opinions on the conduct and outcome of the elections held across Nigeria on February 25 and March 28, 2023 respectively.

“As the watchdog of the nation, the media must rise to its constitutional responsibility. This,therefore, informed the holding of this breakfast meeting designed to examine issues around the 2023 general election, the conduct of both political and non-political actors including the security agencies with a view to fashioning out a more robust way of solving this perennial problem that has been with us for since independence.”