The All Progressives Congress has opposed northern senators vying for the senate presidency.
It insisted that any northerner angling for the leadership of the senate had no respect for the party’s constitution.
The National Vice Chairman of the APC (North-West), Malam Salihu Lukman, on Monday, said for fairness, northern senators contesting the post should step down.
Party chieftains in the South-South and South-East had called for the zoning of the senate presidency to their regions in the spirit of fairness and to give other geo-political regions a sense of belonging in view of the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket adopted by the party.
So far, no fewer than eight senators had indicated an interest in the race. They include Senators Jibrin Barau (Kano Central), Sani Musa (Niger East), Orji Kalu (Abia North), and GodsWill Akpabio (Akwa-Ibom North-West ).
Others are Senators Osita Izunaso (Imo West), Peter Ndubueze (Imo North), Abdul’Aziz Yari (Zamfara West), and Ahmad Lawan (Yobe North), amongst others.
But Lukman called on Yari, Barau and other northern senators to step down from the race for the office of Senate President in the 10th National Assembly.
Lukman noted that it was compelling for the ruling party to zone the prestigious office to either the South-South or South-East for national unity.
The APC chieftain made the appeal in a statement issued in Abuja titled ‘Cash-and-Carry contest for leadership of 10th National Assembly.’
He said, “It is therefore very compelling that the Senate President should come from either the South-South or South-East. I want to specifically note that two respected Senators-elect from North-West have made public declarations about their aspirations for the position of Senate President. These are His Excellency Abdulaziz Yari and Senator Barau Jibrin.
“Now that power has shifted to the Southern part of the country, as a region, we equally have the responsibility to regulate the conduct of all our Senators-elect from the North-West, including the two Senators-elect Abdulaziz Yari and Barau Jibrin to withdraw their aspiration for the Senate President.
“All party leaders from North-West must prevail on these leaders to in the overall interest of the unity and peaceful coexistence of the country withdraw their aspirations to contest the position of Senate President for the 10th Senate. At the most, they should aspire for the position of Majority Leader of the Senate in line with the 1999 zoning formula in the Senate.”
Lukman, a member of the APC National Working Committee, reiterated that no North-West or North-East candidate should be considered for the position.
While describing the lobbying by the lawmakers and NWC members as worrisome, he warned against the imposition of another Muslim leader as the Senate president following the outrage that greeted the emergence of the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and his deputy-elect, Senator Kashim Shettima, who share the same faith.
He noted, “Apart from the clear disregard for national unity and outright disrespect for Nigerians, especially the persons of Tinubu and Shettima, being the President-elect and Vice-President-elect respectively, some of the aspiring candidates for the positions of Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives are neither concerned about the security and well-being of Nigeria nor are they in any way disturbed about factors that could erode the electoral viability of our party – APC
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