10th NASS: Tinubu needs Igbo to succeed — S/West senators-elect

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10th NASS: Tinubu needs Igbo to succeed — S/West senators-elect

Senators from the South-West geopolitical zone, yesterday, insisted that the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, needed Ndigbo of the South-East to succeed in his renewed hope agenda for Nigeria.

They, therefore, affirmed their resolve to guide and support the President-elect in running a government that would give all Nigerians a sense of belonging, starting from the presiding offices of the incoming 10th National Assembly.

The federal lawmakers said they had chosen to support fairness and justice, noting that the country was built on a tripod —Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba— adding that excluding Igbo in the three positions in the country might be counter-productive.

The resolution of the senators followed speculations that the zone had already elected to queue behind a senator from the South-South in the race for Senate president.

A senator-elect, who chose to remain anonymous, said yesterday that three senators from the South-West went behind them to front the aspirant, who was not from the South-East geopolitical zone before the President-elect Tuesday night.

The senators-elect said they had already made their choice in the chief whip of the outgoing Senate, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, from Abia North (South East) and the senator representing Niger East senatorial district (North Central), Senator Sani Musa, as candidates for Senate president and Deputy Senate president respectively.

He said: “They told the President-elect, Tuesday night, that all of us from the South-West are supporting a particular senator for Senate president but the President-elect discovered it was untrue this morning.

“As south westerners, we have good relationship with all Nigerians and these three senators cannot speak for us. They are not our leaders and cannot take South-West senators for granted. Our leader is a former governor, who is also a senator.

“For us, we have resolved to do the right thing for the country since it’s the only way Asiwaju ( President-elect) can succeed as President. We have chosen to support fairness and justice as this country is built on tripod— Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.

‘’If you exclude Igbo in the three positions in the country, you may be pushing your luck too far. We are happy that the President-elect did not listen to them because he is not petty. He likes fairness and he wants to do the right thing.

‘’The 12 senators from the South-West already have a preferred candidate. We have 11 senators and one ranking senator who have endorsed Senator Orji Uzor Kalu for President and Senator Sani Musa for Deputy Senate President.

‘’The northern senators and southern senators believe in the leadership of this two senators and there is no going back. The good news is that Asiwaju has strong character and will stand firm on his personal convictions.”

Also speaking, another senator-elect dismissed the three South-West senators, saying they were only acting out a script.

Zoning arrangements

Vanguard learned that the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, may have met at noon yesterday to finalise the zoning arrangements of the positions in the National Assembly.

Enquiries indicated that the party may have decided to adopt a flat zoning formula than micro-zoning the offices to a particular geopolitical zones.

It was learned that the office of the Senate president will be flatly zoned to the South, while the deputy Senate president will go to the North in general.

This was also the case with the speakership of the House of Representatives, which the paper learned would be zoned to the north, with no specific geo-political zone pencilled for it.

I’m best to work with Tinubu as Senate president —Kalu

Meanwhile, Kalu, yesterday had a closed door meeting with the President-elect at Defence House, Abuja.

Speaking after the meeting, which lasted for about 30 minutes, Kalu said the purpose of his visit was to officially welcome and felicitate with the President-elect on his return from a successful vacation in Europe.

On his Senate presidency ambition, the senator said he was the best among the candidates jostling for the position to work with Tinubu in the incoming 10th National Assembly.

He said: “I told Nigerians that Tinubu is not sick and that he would return soon and a few days after I made that comment, today you can see for yourself that he is here.

“So, this shows that our President-elect is fit and fully ready for the job of leading Nigerians. I just came to congratulate and officially welcome him back to the country and we are ready to support him in the task ahead

“I am the best among the candidates. I have the capacity to unite Nigeria and I am the best to work with our President elect in the best interest of Nigeria. Nigerians need to feel the impact of our party. I have the integrity, honesty and experience to lead the Senate.”