Senate Presidency: Tinubu favours South as APC senators-elect back Kalu

GUARDIAN NG

Nigeria’s president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, held a meeting with the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and some National Assembly members on Wednesday over the zoning of the leadership of the incoming 10th National Assembly.

It was gathered that Tinubu did not accept proposals made by some members of the APC leadership and three South West senators for the Senate Presidency to be zoned to the South-South.

Tinubu, it was learnt, told the meeting that he was only disposed to having the number three office zoned to the South and not to any particular zone.

According to reliable sources, Tinubu said that since APC members stood for the zoning of the presidency to the South and not to any of the three zones in the area, which produced him as a presidential candidate and president-elect, it was wrong to propose zoning the post of Senate President to South-South only.

It was gathered that Tinubu said zoning the post to the South will give all the qualified aspirants from South East and South South the opportunity go into a fair contest for senators to make their choice, just like APC delegates picked the presidential candidate of the party prior to the election.

The president-elect told the meeting to avoid a controversy that would cause a crisis in the party, directing the party stakeholders to go back and amend their recommendations to be the zoning of Senate President to the South.

He reiterated his preference for fairness, equity, and religious and regional balancing as his benchmark for the constitution of the National Assembly leadership.

Sources revealed that elements around Senator Godswill Akpabio had infiltrated the APC NWC to influence members to push for the micro-zoning of the office of Senate President to the South-South.

The Akpabio camp, it was gathered, was hoping that if this scales through, the Akwa Ibom senator, being the only ranking APC senator from the zone, will become the sole candidate.

A source privy to the meeting said, “The plot to have a sole South-South candidate by zoning the office to the zone failed flat with President-elect, who, in his wisdom, rejected pressures by some members of the party leadership and the Southwest senators for the zoning of the Senate presidency to the South-South.

“There’s no truth in all that was reported in the media that the President and the NWC have settled for South-South. The President insisted that the position should be zoned to the South region.”