According to Abdul Ningi, a former deputy majority leader in the Senate, Abdulaziz Yari, the former governor of Zamfara State, has the support of 67 senators-elect for the Senate Presidency.
Recall that Yari insisted on competing for Senate President even though the All Progressives Congress (APC) chose Senator Godswill Akpabio, a former Minority Leader, to hold the nation’s third-highest post.
Ningi claimed that more senators are still joining Yari’s side in order to enhance the number of senators elected while speaking to a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday.
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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, a supporter of Yari, asserted that senators-elect need to be permitted to pick their own leaders.
He said: “Our latest count, we had 67 as of yesterday (Tuesday) night, and more are coming by the grace of God,” he said.
“I’m not a member of the APC, I don’t know how the working committee of the APC works, but over 20 years we have seen consistent friction where people are imposed on the national assembly beginning with Enwerem and Chuba.
“Allow the senators, in my opinion, to choose whoever they want. The PDP had also made similar mistakes and I thought the APC should not have followed suit. Just as the party chooses its chairman, allow the senators to also choose their leader.”
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Senator Ningi went on to say that the former governor of Zamfara has the ability to lead and that Yari’s candidacy is not about money.
He added: “Yes, Yari can lead the senate, and that is why we are following him, that is why we are backing him. We have also been leaders in the Senate. We were not only in the Senate, but we held principal positions.
“You need experienced hands like us to be able to guide you to achieve what is required. If we make a mistake in choosing our leader, we have every right to remove him. Yari’s campaign is not about money.”
Ningi added that Senate Chief Whip, Orji Uzor Kalu; Imo Senator, Osita Izunaso, and Niger State Senator,Sani Musa are supporting Yari to become the next Senate President.
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