SENATE PRESIDENCY: Boost For Akpabio As Big-Wigs Swing Support

The Presidency on Sunday explained its decision to back a Christian as a Senate President. It explained that Nigeria could not afford to have a Muslim as a Senate President at this time having produced Muslims as President and the Vice-President. CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>...CONTINUE READING>>>

Vice-President Kashim Shettima, who said these at a dinner with lawmakers across party lines in Abuja on Saturday night, noted that the party came up with the consensus ticket of Senator GodsWill Akpabio as Senate President and Jibrin Barau as Deputy in the interest of the stability of the country. Shettima said this as two aspirants for the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aliyu Betara and Yusuf Gagdi, were reported to have stepped down.

Explaining the position of President Bola Tinubu, the Vice-President said Nigeria could not afford to have a Muslim as a Senate President since both the President and VP are Muslims, stressing that the President of the Senate should be a Christian. The PUNCH had reported the uproar over the same faith presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress which featured Tinubu and Shettima in the run-up to the February 25 presidential poll.

Having won the election, parliamentarians and other stakeholders had been clamouring for the balance of power and inclusivity, insisting that a Christian must be included in the nation’s top power hierarchy. CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>

In response to this, the APC’s National Working Committee zoned the Senate President to the South-South and nominated Akpabio, a Christian, as the preferred candidate and Senator Jibrin Barau from North-West for Deputy Senate President. Similarly, the party nominated Tajudeen Abbas (Kaduna/North-West) for Speaker; and Benjamin Kalu (Abia/South-East) for Deputy Speaker.

However, some aspirants for the Senate Presidency and the Speaker have continued to insist on contesting for the positions in open defiance of the zoning arrangement announced by the ruling party in early May.

The recalcitrant contestants including Senators Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara West), Orji Kalu ( Abia North) and Osita Izunaso ( Imo West), and Sani Musa from Niger State, said they would not step down for the party’s consensus aspirants for the two senate leadership positions.

But validating the zoning arrangement at the dinner, the Vice President attributed the APC’s decision to President Tinubu’s administration’s desire to foster inclusivity in the interest of the nation. CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>