Apparently preempting a situation where the Senate presidency of the 10th National Assembly is eventually zoned to the South, the North Central and North West geopolitical zones are entangled in a cold war over the deputy Senate position.
Senators-elect from the North Central geopolitical zone met in Abuja at the weekend and endorsed Senator Sani Musa for deputy Senate President in the 10th National Assembly.
But some stakeholders of All Progressives Congress (APC) under the aegis of Concerned APC Members’ Forum rejected the move, insisting that the North West must produce the next deputy Senate president in the person of Senator Barau I. Jubrin for the position of deputy Senate president in the 10th National Assembly.
This is even as the APC has disowned some zoning arrangements being peddled in sections of the media, stating that the party leadership has not released any authorised zoning arrangement.
In a statement issued by its national publicity secretary, Barr Felix Morka, the APC noted that the zoning being touted in the media did not emanate from the party and should be disregarded.
According to Morka, the party’s official news channel would announce any such arrangements when a decision has been reached
The governing party stated: “The attention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been drawn to versions of zoning arrangements for the 10th National Assembly leadership positions in circulation in sections of social media. The information did not emanate from the Party and should be disregarded.
“To be clear, the Party has yet to zone positions of leadership of the 10th National Assembly. Any decisions made in that regard will be duly communicated via the Party’s official information channels”.
Meanwhile, the Senator-elect for Nasarawa West Senatorial District, Aliyu Wadada, who convened the meeting of the North Central lawmakers on Friday said they would not settle for any position other than the deputy Senate president.
Wadada also said the caucus was in synergy with their colleagues in the House of Representatives on the issue.
The North Central Senators-elect met with the governors of the zone at the Kwara State Governor’s Lodge Asokoro, Abuja, on Friday night shortly after they met in the Maitama area of the city centre where they passed a resolution to back Sani Musa’s Senate Presidency aspiration.
The governors of the North Central zone, LEADERSHIP Sunday gathered, approved the resolution of their Senators-elect, endorsing Niger East Senator, Sani Musa, for the position of deputy president of the Senate in the 10th National Assembly.
The Senators-elect were received by Governors Yahaya Bello of Kogi and Abdulrahaman Abdulrazaq of Kwara State.
The caucus urged the National Working Committee of the APC and the president-Elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to respect the aspiration and wishes of the North Central in that regard.
At the meeting of the senators-elect held earlier, Wadada said, “We convened this meeting to welcome Mr. President-elect from his foreign trip.
“We also appreciate his disposition to ensure that fairness and equity take place in the distribution of leadership positions to all the geopolitical zones.
“We are aware that there are agitations from various geopolitical zones on the positions of Senate President, deputy Senate president, Speaker and deputy Speaker.
“We are aware of these agitations. The South West and the North East having produced the president and the vice president, respectively, the North Central as a result is of the stand and position that the least position we will go for is that of the deputy Senate president.
“This is not just coming today. The North Central Caucus has been consistent from the commencement of the politics that will lead to the emergency of the leadership of the National Assembly. We are for the deputy Senate president position. We shall work in harmony and mutually with other geopolitical zones in Nigeria.”
Asked whether the North Central caucus of the House of Representatives members-elect is on the same page on the matter, Wadada said “there has been synergy from home”.
At the meeting with north central governors, the senators-elect were led by Senator Musa, who is the chairman of the North Central Senators-elect caucus.
Our correspondent learnt that the meeting was held to formally meet and familiarise with their governors who are the political leaders of their various states.
They also seized the opportunity to convey to the governors the resolutions of their caucus meeting
Governor Bello, it was gathered, expressed appreciation to the caucus for coming together for the first time to pursue the interest of the zone which he noted has never happened before.
Bello called on all the political actors in the zone from the local government elected officials, political appointees, serving and former state and National Assembly members to unite as one entity.
He also assured the federal lawmakers-elect that all the governors of the North Central geopolitical zone would support their aspiration to produce a presiding officer in the 10th National Assembly.
He said, “This is the appropriate time for us to unite in order to pursue a common goal so that North Central Nigeria would take its rightful place in the affairs of the country.”
On his part, Kwara State governor commended members of the caucus for coming together as a team to pursue a common goal.
Abdulrazaq said, “The fact that he elected Senators from our zone, irrespective of their political party affiliation, have chosen to come together to promote a common interest for the benefits of the North Central and the country is a welcome development and highly commendable.
“We will advise the caucus to reach out to other zones with the aim of getting the required numbers and cooperation. All the senators-elect should also remain focused and pursue their quest for the highest possible leadership position in the 10th Senate.”
The leader of the caucus, Senator Musa, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, appealed to the governors to continue the push for equity for the zone.
In attendance at the meeting, apart from Musa, were returning Senators Isah Jibrin (Kogi East) and Sadiq Umar Suleiman (Kwara North).
Others were Senators-Elect Peter Ndalkali Jiya (Niger South), Ahmed Aliyu Wadada (Nasarawa West), Sunday Karimi (Kogi West), and Udende Memsa Emmanuel (Benue North East).
They also include Titus Tartenger Zam (Benue North West), Hon Diket Plang (Plateau Central), Mohammed Onawo (Nasarawa South), and Engr. (Dr) Abubakar Sadiku Ohere (Kogi Central) among others.
No, It’s Senator Jibrin From North West, APC Stakeholders Insist
But APC stakeholders under the umbrella body, Concerned APC Members Forum, yesterday insisted that the deputy Senate president position must go to the North West.
Accordingly, they endorsed Senator Barau Jubrin for the position of deputy Senate president, saying they will communicate the decision to the president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the national chairman of the party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, in an official letter on tomorrow (Monday) morning.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, the APC chieftains said the principle of federal character must be strictly adhered to so that every geo-political zone would be given a sense of belonging.
National convener of the forum, Comrade Okpokwu Ogenyi, noted that while the South West and North East have since produced president-elect and vice president-elect respectively, the APC National Working Committee (NWC) and the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) should consider zoning of president of the Senate and deputy Senate president to the South South and North West.
Ogenyi stated: “We believe that the party’s role in the National Assembly Leadership is to ensure the emergence of a competent senator who has distinguished himself over the years, devoid of religious and tribal sentiment, a pan-Nigerian who has been tested and trusted, proven worthy of integrity, character and prudent management.
“As believers in the Nigerian project, our appeal to the party is to consider the federal character in the zoning of the 10th senate leadership bearing in mind, competence and credibility with an understanding that Nigeria is a circular state with multi-faith and six geo-political zones.
“We wish to remind you, the leadership of our party, that the President-elect is from the South West, and the Vice President-elect is from the North East, as such, the Senate President should be zoned to the South-South and the Deputy Senate President to the North West while the speaker of the House of Representatives and deputy should be accommodated by the other zones in view of competence and credibility of Honourable members.
“Although we have watched with keen interest the agitations from the various geo-political zones clamouring to produce the Senate President, we have also studied their request and concluded that APC as a national party should consider federal character considering the six geo-political zones and the circular nature of the country for even distribution of key government positions.
“We are aware that zoning is not done in a vacuum, so we highly recommend H.E Senator Godswill Akpabio for the position of Senate President and Senator Barau I. Jibrin as Deputy Senate President respectively.”
Ogenyi argued that both zones gave massive votes that led to the victory of the APC in the last presidential election and should be adequately rewarded for their effort.
According to the forum, the duo of Senator Godswill Akpabio (Akwa-Ibom North West) and Senator Barau Jibrin (Kano North), being ranking Senators from both zones, should be considered for the exalted seats.
It further stated: “It is pertinent to note that, in the South, South-South contributed the second highest votes after South-West which houses the President-elect. The North-West gave the party the highest votes in the North with Kano state consistently giving APC the highest vote per state in every election since the formation of the APC.
“More so, our submission is based on their legislative experience, prudent financial management, fair disposition towards national peace and unity, care for the less privileged, competence, reward for hard work, electoral value, and diplomatic relations.
“In the National Assembly, Senator Akpabio is the most ranking senator from the South-South under the platform of the APC while Senator Barau I. Jibrin is the most ranking senator from the North West.
“We sincerely appeal to the National Chairman of our great Party, H.E. Sen Abdullahi Adamu CON, and his National Working Committee members to zone the Senate Presidency seat to the South-South and the Deputy Senate President to the North West, preferably micro-zoned to Akwa Ibom State and Deputy Senate President to Kano State to pave way for the most ranking Senators, Godswill Akpabio and Barau I. Jibrin to emerge as the Senate President and Deputy Senate President of the 10th Senate respectively.
“We unequivocally call on the President-elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Progressives Governor’s Forum (PGF) and the State chairmen of our party to implement a government of National competence by supporting the zoning of the Senate Presidency to the South-South and Deputy to the North West.
“To this end, this organisation is publicly making this appeal to our leaders while official letters will be sent to our party’s National Chairman and the President-elect respectively in this regard.
We shall continue to advocate for good governance in promoting the ideology of our great party, APC. ”
