Southern senators revive forum, appoint new leaders

Senators from the southern part of the country have revived their forum.

They met for the first time on the platform of the Southern Senators Forum to inaugurate the forum nine months after the inauguration of the 10th Assembly.

The 51 senators from the 17 southern states, met and elected six executives under the Chairmanship of Senator Adetokunbo Abiru (APC Lagos East).

Other members of the executives are: Vice Chairman, Senator Victor Umeh (Labour Party, Anambra Central), Secretary, Senator Mpigi Barinada ( PDP, Rivers South East), Publicity Secretary, Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong ( APC, Cross River North ) and Treasurer, Senator Kenneth Eze ( APC Ebonyi Central).

Addressing the forum at the inaugural meeting, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, said the forum has been in existence since the 9th Senate and not a newly formed forum.

He said his current position as Leader of the 10th Senate prevented him from providing the required leadership, which has necessitated the change of leadership which took place at the meeting .

The Senate leader said, “What is happening here today is not new as both the Southern and Northern Senators’ fora existed even before this 10th Senate.

“At this meeting of the Southern senators, new executive members will be announced to steer the affairs of the forum.

“The new chairman as unanimously agreed by Southern Senators is Senator Adetokunbo Abiru ( APC Lagos East) , Vice Chairman, Senator Victor Umeh (Labour Party , Anambra Central) , Secretary , Senator Mpigi Barinada ( PDP Rivers South East) , Publicity Secretary, Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong (APC Cross River North ) and Treasurer , Senator Kenneth Eze ( APC Ebonyi Central).”

Accepting his appointment as the new leader of the forum, Abiru said the forum would serve as a veritable platform for discussing, analysing and dissecting national issues by Southern senators for the purpose of moving Nigeria forward.

He added that they would partner with the Northern Senators Forum to move the country forward.

Abiru said, “This forum, the Southern Senators Forum is to champion the course of Nigeria and Nigerians. We have our Northern brothers with the Northern Senators Forum. We will work together with the Northern Senators Forum to move the country forward.

“We will swing into action and roll out our plans for the betterment of the region and Nigeria. We will map out our plans and work on them for the betterment of Nigeria and Nigerians generally.”

When asked by our correspondent why it took the forum nine months before its inauguration and if it had anything to do with what transpired in the plenary on Tuesday, Abiru said it had nothing to do with it.

He said, “No, it doesn’t have anything to do with what happened at the plenary yesterday. The last leadership headed by the leader of the Senate is just transferring their powers and responsibilities to us.

“We have been running, it’s not like we haven’t existed, what we just have now is a change of leadership because our former leader is now the leader of the Senate.

“So, what we had today is a change of leadership and we will follow in line with the direction they have given us. It’s continuity and we will all work together.”