The All Progressives Congress (APC) has criticised northern senators attempting to succeed Ahmad Lawan (Senator representing Yobe North Senatorial District) as Nigeria’s 10th Senate President.
According to news outlets, there have been concerns and disagreements inside the APC about who will take over the number three political post after the 2023 general election.
During the presidential election, the ruling party fielded a Muslim-Muslim ticket, despite objections.
Additionally, given how the party’s presidential and vice presidential candidates were chosen, party leaders in the South-South and South-East have advocated for the Senate presidency to be zoned to their regions.
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With the APC’s Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket, they believe this will assure impartiality and provide other geopolitical regions a sense of inclusion.
Senator Jibrin Barau (Kano Central), Sani Musa (Niger East), Orji Kalu (Abia North), and GodsWill Akpabio are among the lawmakers who have expressed interest in the Senate presidency race thus far (Akwa-Ibom North-West).
Senators Osita Izunaso (Imo West), Peter Ndubuze (Imo North), Abdul’Aziz Yari (Zamfara West), and Ahmad Lawan (Yobe North) are among those who have expressed interest.
But, in an interview with the PUNCH on Monday, the APC’s National Vice Chairman (North-West), Malam Salihu Lukman, and the party’s Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim, criticised northern senators running for Senate President and urged them to drop out immediately.
The APC chieftains stated in separate comments that any northerner vying for senate leadership had no regard for the party’s constitution.
Lukman urged Yari, Barau, and other northern senators to withdraw from the contest, emphasizing the importance of the ruling party allocating the coveted office to either the South-South or South-East for national unity.
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.”
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Lukman, a member of the APC National Working Committee, stated that no candidate from the North-West or North-East should be considered for the position.
While describing the lawmakers’ and NWC members’ lobbying as concerning, he warned against imposing another Muslim leader as Senate president in the aftermath of 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.”
He added: “These are aspiring candidates for these positions, two of them Muslims from North-West aspiring for the position of Senate President and one of them from North-East aspiring for the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives, who are desperately mobilising support.
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“Certainly, these aspirants know that there is a very high probability that once the party is allowed to finalise the processes of zoning positions of leadership, the probability is high that these positions would be zoned to other sections of the country outside theirs.
“’It should be very clear that any person whose aspiration for the position of Senate President, the number three highest ranking position in the Federal Government, who is a Muslim will not mean well for Nigeria and will be working to undermine the electoral viability of APC as a political party.”
While stating the need for the northern aspirants to reconsider their decision, Lukman said: “This is because chapter II, section 14(3) of the Nigerian constitution clearly outlined that ‘the composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies.
‘’With two Muslims already elected to be sworn in as President and Vice President of the Federal Republic on May 29, any attempt to consider another Muslim as Senate President will promote the dominance of Muslims in the Federal Government and will be injurious to national unity and peaceful co-existence of Nigeria as a sovereign entity, which must not be allowed.”
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Bala Ibrahim, the APC’s Director of Publicity, backed Lukman’s call for northern senators to withdraw from the battle for the 10th Senate seat.
He stated that the appeal for their withdrawal is ethical, and that justice requires that they enable another region to fill the role.
“It will seek to give a semblance of inclusiveness and give everyone a sense of belonging. But the ultimate decision rests with the party which will not do anything injurious to its interest,” he stated.
When asked if the APC had taken a stance on the zoning of the Senate President and Speaker, the APC image maker stated that no formal stance had been taken.
He said, “We haven’t come to that yet (zoning) but it has been discussed. I think people want the atmosphere to be cool following the stress and tensions generated by the elections. But consultations are ongoing, it doesn’t have to be formal, where everybody will meet and decisions taken.
“The Saraki-Dogara lesson has been learnt and I don’t think the 10th Assembly will happen that way. The party will not lose focus. I think they want to see the outcome of the supplementary elections. That will give an impetus to the direction where things will go. My intuition is telling me, probably, the 1999 arrangement is probably what will hold.”
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On whether the president-elect would have a say in who emerges as NASS leaders, Ibrahim stated that it was incontestable.
“That is an understatement. It is only the president (Buhari) that says he belongs to nobody. But this one (Tinubu) belongs to everybody. He will certainly have a say because the function of the executives is dependent on the relationship with the legislature.
“If you have a hostile legislature, you will certainly not get your policies implemented,” Ibrahim added.
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