Kalu, Akpabio, Izunaso main contenders as micro-zoning to S’South fails

Leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the North West geo-political zone are currently insisting that the region be allowed to produce the next President of the Senate in the 10th Assembly. The position of the APC stalwarts is in conflict with the decision of the leadership of the party led by the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to zone the post to the Southern part of the country. Those in the know maintain that the President- elect is however asking the North West to make do with the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives while the North Central is allowed to produce the Deputy Senate Presidency.

From all indications, the leadership of the APC has reportedly opted to zone the office to South South and South East geo-political zones after a series of meetings chaired by Tinubu during the week. Reports have it that though the leaders had in a report presented to Tinubu upon his arrival from Europe opted to pick the new President of the Senate through a consensus method. Tinubu reportedly overruled the suggestion opting to throw the contest open but only to candidates from the South South and South East after intense debates and horse trading by party stakeholders.

The APC has zoned the deputy senate president to the North West as a form of compensation, maintaining that the decision (to zone the office to South) was a deliberate effort to ensure religious balance. Several prominent APC leaders who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity frowned at the decision of the APC leaders to zone the post to South, saying the decision is a gross disservice to the North West where the party secured its bulk votes. “Many of our leaders are not happy with this decision at all.

Many of them are wondering why the APC will leave their region and allow the South, where the party didn’t do well, to produce the Senate President,” one of the sources said. On what the stakeholders would do next, the source said, “We are waiting to see how events will unfold. You know we don’t make noise in the North but all I can say is that we are watching because the situation is not completely hopeless as we speak because the party has not made an official position on it.” Sources within the APC stated that but for the arrival of the President-elect, the issue of zoning was about throwing the party into chaos.

Those in the know stated that Tinubu who was believed to have been recuperating after medical procedure in an undisclosed facility had to head home to douse the raging tension within the party. The former Lagos State Governor was said to have been pressured by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila and a member of the House, Hon. James Faleke, to return home when stakeholders within the APC failed to agree to the zoning formula presented by the National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, to the caucus of the party There are strong indications that the Senate Chief Whip, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, and three other Senators- elect from Southern Nigeria may be the only contenders in the race to the 10th National Assembly Senate Presidency, given the decision to cede it to the South.

Other contenders in the race to the number three highest political office in the country from the Southern region are: Godswill Akpabio (APC, Akwa-Ibom), Osita Izunaso (APC, Imo State) and David Umahi (APC, Ebonyi South). This is as Saturday Telegraph checks revealed that Senator Sani Musa might stand unopposed in the contest to the office of the Deputy President of the Senate. This indication emerged following the meeting on Wednesday of Tinubu, the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the leadership of the National Assembly.

Saturday Telegraph learnt that the meeting was held to discuss the zoning of the leadership of the incoming 10th National Assembly. It was gathered that the President-elect resisted pressures from some members of the APC leadership and three South West Senators who suggested that the Senate Presidency should be micro-zoned to the South-South. It was learnt that Tinubu insisted that the position of the Senate President must go to the South, rather than any specific zone while also urging all party stakeholders to be sensitive to ethno-religious balancing of the National Assembly leadership positions to avoid agitations that might destabilise the incoming government. Tinubu was said to have argued that since the APC stood for zoning the presidency to the South and not to any particular zone, it would be wrong to propose zoning the post of Senate President to the South-South only.

He suggested that zoning the post to the South would allow all qualified aspirants from the South East and South-South to enter a fair contest for senators to make their choice, just like APC delegates picked the presidential candidate of the party prior to the election. One of the sources privy to the details of the meeting, hinted that the President- elect emphasised the importance of fairness, equity, and regional and religious balancing in the constitution of the National Assembly leadership, in order to avoid a controversy that could cause a crisis in the party. “You remember that the Muslim-Muslim ticket raised a lot of dust, and I can tell you that the dust is yet to settle.

But Tinubu and some party leaders want that dust to settle by ensuring that all aggrieved parties can have a sense of belonging in the governance of this country. “That is why Tinubu, who understands the delicate nature of Nigeria when it comes to politics and governance, cannot ignore the issue of religion. In fact, Tinubu has made it clear that a Christian of Southern extraction should be the President of the 10th Senate, to mitigate the fears of Christians in the country,” the source explained. Following this development therefore, it has become obvious that Kalu, a former Governor of Abia State, is top among those aspiring to become the next President of the Senate, after Ahmad Lawan’s administration in June.

Kalu has since declared his intention to occupy the highly coveted office, during which he asked the leadership of the APC to particularly micro-zone the office to him and not just to the South East in general. Kalu, a close political ally to Tinubu had to sacrifice his earlier presidential ambition, when the former Governor of Lagos State indicated interest to lead the nation in the coming political dispensation. He also asserted that he would not support any zoning arrangement that would commit the leadership of the Senate into the hands of a Muslim, stressing the need to redress the agitations provoked by the emergence of two Muslims- Tinubu and Shettima as President-elect and Vice President-elect respectively. On the other hand, Senators Akpabio and Izunaso are qualified to remain in the race, if eventually resolved to be left in the South, since the duo are ranking members of the apex legislative Assembly. They have also indicated interest and been campaigning. Meanwhile, Umahi, who is a non-ranking member may eventually not contest, if the ranking Senators insist on going by their ranking principle.

Though he has been campaigning, urging the Senate to step down the rule to enable the new members to join the race, his request may not yield results. For the office of the Deputy President of the Senate, Saturday Telegraph learnt that the coast is getting clearer for the Senator representing Niger East Senatorial District, Sani Musa, to emerge unopposed as the leadership of the party is considering zoning the office to the North Central. Musa has also indicated interest to run for the Senate Presidency, but said that he was ready to go with party decision and went as far as saying that he would sacrifice his Senate Presidency ambition and settle for Deputy President of the Senate, in the interest of peace, unity and stability of the nation. Another party chieftain who also spoke on the condition anonymity to one of our correspondents said it would be difficult for the party to achieve proper zoning as money has taken centre stage in the consideration. According to him, every support for individual or zone is laced with financial inducements.

He accused the National Working Committee of APC of being beneficiaries of the financial inducements. It would be recalled that the Chairman Senate Committee on Army, Senator Ali Ndume, made the allegations of money exchanging hands in the National Assembly over the zoning and campaign for principal offices. Senator Ndume made his allegation of monetary inducements when he featured in the Channels Television Politics Today programme.

The chieftain, who spoke exclusively to Saturday Telegraph said, “It would be difficult for the NWC to come up with acceptable zoning because of what has happened. They cannot absolve themselves of the allegations of financial inducements on who occupies what office as a principal officer or what zone gets what in the zoning imbroglio in the 10th Assembly. “As you can see, there are some many reports in the media alleging that the NWC has zoned the offices to some individuals and some zones. Those reports were as a result of assurances giving to those individuals and zones. So, people should not take them lightly. Meanwhile, one of the candidates jostling for the Deputy Senate Presidency, Senator Sani Musa has been endorsed by senators-elect from the North Central.

The Senators-elect made the endorsement while briefing journalists on Friday evening in Abuja, stressing that the DSP position was the least they could take out of all the leadership positions available for grab. Speaking on behalf of the group, the member elect for Nasarawa West Senatorial District, Aliyu Wadada, said he and his colleagues were declaring for Sani Musa to represent the zone as a matter of consensus. “For fairness and equal distribution of leadership, the position of the DSP should be zoned to the North Central. The North Central will work in harmony with all the zones for effective leadership.” Supporting Wadada’s campaign for the region, another Senator-elect from Kwara State, Sadiq Umar, said that the North Central is a stabilizer, and would work with other zones to bring good governance to the Senate and the country in general.(Saturday Telegraph)