Following plans by the Presidency to drop the under performing Senator Ita Enang as presidential aide on National Assembly (Senate) matters, another former senator is being favored as a replacement.
Former presidential adviser, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa is believed to have been approached by top goons of the APC to step up and position herself to serve her country, by joining the ruling All Progressives Congress. Approaching Senator Giwa who was a senator between 1999 and 2003, stems from the belief that she was best suited as a replacement, coming from the same zone and with a common history with embattled Senator Enang.
This largely accounts for her statement that on Friday(today) she will defect to the Cross River State chapter of the All Progressives Congress. Ita-Giwa, who disclosed this on Thursday in Calabar, said she was moving from the Peoples Democratic Party to join her contemporaries in the APC.
“nearly all my contemporaries are in the APC. SO, it is time for me to join them and work for the progress of the party at the state and national levels.”
Ita-Giwa was elected senator representing Cross River South Senatorial District under the platform of the All Peoples Party from May 1999 to May 2003.
After leaving the senate in 2003, she defected to the PDP, and was immediately appointed former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters. The Acting state Chairman of APC, Mr. John Ochala, said her defection was a welcome development. “She is a big fish for the party.
Her defection is the right decision at the right time. I see it as a great sign of appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari for the so many things that he has done to the people of Cross River State.
It was widely reported on the media earlier this week that President Muhammadu Buhari may have concluded arrangements for the replacement of his senior Special Assistant on National Assembly (Senate) Matters, Senator Ita Enang in order to save his Government from imminent collapse.
This came on the heels of the unending animosity between the Presidency and the Senate, after it was discovered that the president’s senate liaison officer, Ita Enang has been found wanting in ensuring a peaceful relationship between the two apex arms of government.
Senator Ita Enang has continued to perform below expectation considering the hard stance of the senate on some presidential decisions in the last couple of weeks.
Another example is his failure to convince the senate leadership to ensure the screening of the 27 resident electoral commissioners nominated by Mr. President, something that has never happened since the return of democracy in 1999.
The refusal of Senate to confirm the two new ministerial nominees is a testimony that Senator Ita Enang was not doing his job well and may soon be replaced with a someone who understands the politics and intrigues that play out in the senate and the presidency. It could be recalled that immediately Sen. Ita Enang was appointed, he was accused of both budget padding and stealing by members of the National Assembly and such embarrassing display did not go down well with the President who at that time moved to replace Enang.
The previous attempt to replace Enang was ably resisted by Senator Godswill Akpabio who argued that replacing an Akwa Ibom State son with someone from another zone in the presidency was unacceptable.
But this argument may no longer stand as Florence Ita Giwa speaks the same language as Ita Enang, and they both share a common cultural and historical ancestry.
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Source: Global Pilot Newspapers
