Senators from the southern part of the country have revived their forum.
They gathered for the first time on the Southern Senators Forum platform to launch the forum nine months after the 10th Assembly started.
The 51 senators from the 17 southern states elected six executives with Senator Adetokunbo Abiru (APC Lagos East) as the Chairman.
Other members of the executives include: 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).
Speaking at the first meeting, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, explained that the forum has been around since the 9th Senate and is not a new group.
He mentioned that his current role as Leader of the 10th Senate made it difficult for him to provide the necessary leadership, which led to the change of leadership at the meeting.
The Senate leader emphasized, “The events taking place today are not new as both the Southern and Northern Senators’ fora existed even before this 10th Senate.
“At this gathering of the Southern senators, new executive members will be introduced to manage 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).”
In accepting his appointment as the new leader of the forum, Abiru stated that the forum would serve as a key platform for discussing, analyzing and examining national issues by Southern senators to advance Nigeria.
He also mentioned that they would collaborate with the Northern Senators Forum to advance the country.
Abiru explained, “This forum, the Southern Senators Forum, is to support the cause of Nigeria and Nigerians. We have our Northern colleagues with the Northern Senators Forum. We will cooperate with the Northern Senators Forum to advance the country.
“We will take action and implement our plans for the improvement of the region and Nigeria. We will outline our plans and work on them for the betterment of Nigeria and Nigerians in general.”
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.
"Today, we experienced a shift in leadership and we will comply with the guidance provided to us. It signifies continuity and we will collaborate together."
