AWKA—SENATE President, Chief David Mark, yesterday in Anambra State appealed to Nigerians to embrace peace as it was the only way for genuine development to be achieved, arguing that despite the problems Nigeria was facing, she was not unstable.

He also charged the people of Anambra South senatorial district to vote for Andy Uba, the senator sacked recently by the Appeal Court in Enugu recently, as the re-run election ordered by the court nears.

Mark spoke at Uga in Aguata local government area of the state during a visit to Chief Andy Uba.

“There could be challenges here and there which is normal in life, but that is not enough to say that the country is unstable. Nigeria is not in crisis and will never be. The challenge it is currently facing is normal which a country could face from time to time,” he said.

Apparently referring to the sectarian crisis in the North which had led to the killing of many people, the senate president urged Christians to extend the love of Christmas to the new year by being law- abiding and living peacefully with one another to ensure genuine development in the country.

At the palace of the Obi of Uga, His Royal Highness, Igwe Felix Ezenwugo, Senator Mark said the country’s monarchs would be involved in the proposed constitutional amendment and apologized to the traditional rulers for not specifying roles for them in the 1999 constitution.

“We knew they were sidelined in the past and we have realized that there is need to involve them in the affairs of the country, especially in maintaining peace and security,” he further said.

At the Uga, Aguata local government area, home of Chief Andy Uba, the senate president urged the electorate in the zone to ensure that he (Uba) was returned to the senate during the rerun election ordered by the Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu.

Uba, who contested the April, 2011, election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was last month removed from the senate by the Court of Appeal following an appeal by the candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, in the election, Chief Chuma Nzeribe.

Mark, who said he was not in Anambra State to campaign for Uba, however, addressed a rally at the Immaculate Heart Church field in Uga, reminding them of the need to do the right thing when the time came.

He said: “We pray that 2012 will be better than 2011and we pray that Dr. Andy Uba returns to the senate this year. We therefore expect you to vote for him more than you did when he won the election in April.

“We have a winning team in this senatorial zone and Uba is the leader of that team. Uba is one of the country’s respected senators and that is why we want him back in that chamber.

“Something went wrong in the past in the zone and we expect you to correct that mistake because it is the future of our children that is stake. When you vote for Andy Uba, you are securing the future of those children.”

PDP leader in Anambra State and younger brother of the deposed senator, Chief Chris Uba, in his speech, said Anambra people knew that the April 2011 election was free and fair, adding, however, that since the court had nullified the election, the electorate should express their support for Uba by voting massively for him as they did previously.

Nigeria not unstable – Mark