The senator representing Enugu West senatorial zone, Osita Ngwu, has said that the southeast Senate caucus is not relenting in its quest for more ministerial slots for the region.
Ngwu, who stated this in an interview with newsmen in Enugu, said that the president might have fulfilled the constitutional requirements by appointing a minister for each of the five states in the region.
He added that they had an unflinching belief that President Bola Tinubu would sentimentally address the demand of the senators to have additional ministerial slots.
The senator stressed that he and the other Southeast senators were not comfortable with the five ministerial appointments given to the region, saying that they would not be confrontational about it but would employ dialogue to achieve the desired objective.
He emphasized that the senators had decided that the region would no longer be relegated to the background but treated fairly, lamenting that whereas some zones had as many as 10 slots, Southeast is given only five.
Ngwu, who expressed hope that a solution was underway for the Southeast, disclosed that the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, was already wading in to address the issue for them.
He said: “His Excellency Senator Akpabio is a man who works his talk. We don’t have any doubt as to his intervention because he assured us he is going to take it up with President Bola Tinubu to redress the injustice. We see it as an injustice to the Southeast and we have spoken.
“So, we will be patient to know the feedback the Senate president is going to give back to us. We are not going to rest. We will continue to talk about it until the Southeast is given its due place in Nigeria.
“In fact, some zones have 10 ministers. But in the southeast, we have only five. I think it is the height of injustice. But we will keep negotiating and dialoguing.
“Nigeria has a constitution with which the federation is governed. However, sentiments can come in. And when they come in, you ask the government to look at it from that angle.
“If the president has met the constitutional requirements, we will ask him to look at the sentimental requirements too so that all of us will feel carried along.”
