Within the yet-to-be-inaugurated 10th National Assembly, a leadership crisis is escalating.
In order to soothe the strife among legislators and prevent further national fragmentation along ethnic and religious lines, it is reported that famous elder statesmen from the North and influential traditional rulers from the North and Southwest have intervened.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) is now divided into several camps as a result of the power struggle between incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari and President-elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
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Since it was decided to give Senator Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State the Senate Presidency, there has apparently been a silent battle raging between the two camps.
It has also exacerbated tensions among senators-elect and representatives based on race and religion. This has strained relations among lawmakers from the nation’s six geopolitical zones.
As the conflict spreads across the country, tensions among Nigerians are rising.
Northern politicians, including two former military leaders of state, and some top-tier traditional rulers from the North and Southwest are said to have intervened out of concern for this trend.
To ease tensions and allow the nation to advance, they have held conversations with powerful and high-ranking senators.
Abubakar Yari, Jibrin Barau, and Sani Musa are three candidates from the North running for the Senate presidency, while Osita Izunaso, Orji Uzor Kalu, and Godswill Akpabio are three from the South.
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Unconfirmed rumors also suggest that Adams Oshiomole, the former governor of Edo State, would run for office.
The elder statesmen have reportedly advised important senators, particularly those from the North, to put Nigeria’s unity and national cohesiveness ahead of personal goals in the upcoming Assembly leadership election, according to a senator-elect who was privy to these meetings with the Sun.
In their conversations with senators, the statesmen pleaded with them not to take advantage of their size advantage to win the leadership race in the Senate.
“They appealed to us to emulate the APC governors from Northern Nigeria who in the most patriotic manner gave all their support to the emergence of a Southern candidate for the party and did all within their powers for the victory of Bola Tinubu from the Southwest at the polls,” the source said.
He affirmed that Northern Senators were unhappy with the President-elect’s unrestricted backing of Senator Akpabio but were not initially opposed to the South producing the Senate president.
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“But with the seriousness of the moves by these patriotic and highly respected statesmen and the esteemed traditional rulers, I see the major contender from the North, H.E Abdulaziz Abubakar Yari dropping the gauntlet and supporting a credible, vibrant and unblemished aspirant from the South,” he said.
However, the selection of Senator Akpabio, who is facing numerous corruption allegations, is considered as a danger to the progress made against corruption under President Buhari’s eight years in office.
The senators from the North worry that a Senate under Akpabio won’t defend their region’s interests.
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