Ekweremadu Spills Details How He Negotiated His Way To Remain Deputy Senate President

Ike Ekweremadu, has given details of how he emerged the deputy president of the Senate, retaining his former position.

Speaking during a reception organized for him by the people of Enugu West Senatorial zone at the weekend in Enugu, described how he and some of his colleagues in the Senate negotiated his way back to his former position, Daily Trust reports.

Ike Ekweremadu taking the oath of office

According to him, they had to look critically at history, asking themselves what the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (Zik) would have done should he find himself in the same precarious political situation where it seemed that Ndigbo were going to lose out completely if nothing concrete was done.

Ekweremadu said: “So we had to look back in history – in the 1960s where NCNC went to election and lost to NPC. Zik had to negotiate himself back to power and became the President of Nigeria.

READ ALSO: How APC Lost Senate Presidency To PDP

“In 1979 NPP (Nigeria Peoples Party) that was so dominant in the east lost in the presidential election; Zik and his colleagues also negotiated himself back to power and Edwin Umezuoke became the speaker of the House of Representatives.

“So today, history beckoned on us to ensure the inclusiveness of the Igbo man in the scheme of things.”

He explained that they had to seek the support of friends, colleagues and brothers in the South South and in the North.

“We consolidated our 49 member senators of PDP. And we believed we had a strong bloc that could determine who will be the president of Nigeria Senate.

READ ALSO: South-East Has No Regrets Voting For PDP – Ekweremadu

“For that to happen, something had to give in and that is called negotiation in politics. So we negotiated wisely, and today, not only that PDP is part of the leadership of the National Assembly at presiding officer’s level, but the Igbo man is also in the ship of state,” Ekweremadu stated.

He however, promised to work in harmony with President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to move Nigeria forward.

On June 9, Ekweremadu was elected deputy senate president, retaining his former position.

Senator Dino Melaye, a member of the APC senator had said the party lost the post of the deputy Senate presidency to Ike Ekweremadu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because many of its senators were not present during the election.

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