Respect Tinubu, APC Choice, Party Chieftain Urges Aspirants

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bauchi State, Mr. Sabo Mohammed, has urged 10th National Assembly aspirants to accept and esteem the choice of the President-elect Asiwajo Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Senator Godswill Apkabio/Jibril Barau as next Senate President and deputy respectively.

Sabo made the call while speaking with journalists in Bauchi on Thursday, he also called for rally round and support the party’s choice of Honourable Tajudeen Abbas and Honourable Benjamim Kalu for Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives for the unity and progress of the country and the APC.

“I appreciate and commend the leadership of the party, the President-Elect and the Progressive Governors forum for deciding to zone certain principal offices to respective zones.

 “It is a realization of the need to involve or to achieve inclusive government and I think my candid position is that we should as a matter of sacrifice respect the decision of the party, respect the decision of the president elect and the decision of the progressive governors forum and work towards the ticket of Akpabio and Barau in the 10th NASS as well Tajudeen Abbas and Benjamim Kalu in the lower chamber.”

According to Sabo this development will help in promoting party discipline as well as upholding party supremacy and this is the best way to go in trying to regain the hitherto lost glory of the party.

“Akpabio has been governor for eight years, he was in the senate for about 12 years and has been minister for about five years. He is one of the movers and shakers of the south-south and somebody who has been described by his colleagues as a garrison politician whose political relationship cuts across party lines -PDP and the APC – and has supported the bid of the President elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the extent that he was the first person to withdraw from the race in the interest of peaceful resolution of the presidential primaries and then to pave the way for the success of the party in the just concluded presidential election.”

Mohammed described Senator Jibrin Barau as a well-polished politician with pedigree, “Jibrin, otherwise called Malia is a well-polished grassroots politician who exerts followership in Kano and the North West politics.

“The politician called for support for the choice of Tajudeen Abass and Benjamin Kalu, the ticket he termed national stability, equity and inclusive parliament.

He urged the likes of Ahmed Wase, Betara, Muktar, Soji and others in the race for Speakership to step down for Tajudeen, “They should prioritize national interest, they should prioritize party interest and above all sacrifice their personal ambition for national inclusiveness,” he said.

“If you look at Tajudeen, his credentials in parliament speaks volume. He is eminently qualified to occupy the position of Speakership more than any other politician in the history of Nigeria.

“In the eight Assembly he sponsored 48 motions and bills, the highest by an individual parliamentarian. “In the 9th Assembly, Tajudeen presented over 70 bills and motions out of which 20 have seen the light of Presidential accent. This is unprecedented. That is why his colleagues call him the first ranking legislator and he has been in the National Assembly since 2011. Combine his private life working experience and education to Phd level and a team player I think Tajudeen will go a long way in raising the bar in the National Assembly.

“That is why there is a wisdom in his selection by the President elect camp and the governors Forum because he is well qualified to be the speaker of the House of representatives.

“For Benjamin Kalu, he is a household name in the National Assembly. He is eloquent, erudite and a team player.”

The APC stalwart believed even the opposition were supporting the Tajudeen and Benjamin ticket.

He therefore commended the decision of Honourable Ado Doguwa to withdraw from the race and support Tajudeen’s nomination.

“It will go a long way in solidifying the unity of the country and the unity of the party as well as the issue of inclusiveness,” he said.

“That is why some of us are urging Wase and Betara who are still pursuing their ambition to have a rethink and support them”