10th N’Assembly: Northern groups hail Tinubu for withdrawing support from Akpabio

By Yemi Itodo

A coalition of 593 registered sociocultural and economically inclined northern groups, has expressed satisfaction over the decision of President Bola Tinubu to allow a level playing field at the elections of Presiding Officers of the 10th National Assembly.

The 10th National Assembly shall be inaugurated tomorrow, Tuesday, 13th June, 2023, following the proclamation by President Tinubu.

President of the Senate and the Deputy shall be elected for the 10th Nigerian Senate tomorrow, while Speaker and Deputy shall be elected for the 10th House.

President Tinubu and his ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) had endorsed Senators Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom North West) and Jibrin Barau (Kano North) as President and Deputy President of the 10th Senate, respectively; while Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas (Kaduna) and Hon. Benjamin Kalu (Abia) were adopted Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the 10th House, respectively.

But in a twist of fate, President Tinubu, during a meeting with traditional rulers in State House on Friday, said he was ready to work with whoever emerges from the elections of Presiding Officers in National Assembly tomorrow.

While hailing the President’s decision at a press briefing in Abuja to mark the nation’s democracy day celebration on Monday, the coalition, under the aegis of Northern Consensus Movement (NCM), said Tinubu’s neutrality in the affairs of the 10th National Assembly would further strengthen Nigeria’s democracy, adding that, it was the best democracy gift given to mark June 12.

The coalition, however, reminded the President and the APC, of the contribution of the North West region of the country to the victory of the party in the last general elections, saying it would do the party good if someone from the region emerges the Presiding Officer of the Senate.

“For the benefit of the doubt, and in due acknowledgement of the contribution of the APC victory of over 8.5m votes, the entire North got over 5.7m votes, while the Northwest alone provided over 2.7m votes to consolidate the Party’s victory.

“South South scored the fifth highest number of votes after the North west.

We desire to place on record, that the distinguished Senator Abdulazeez Abubakar Yari, who is contesting and a front runner, is eminently qualified to vie for the exalted office of the Senate President, and have contributed meaningfully to the growth and development of the region, in his individual capacity. We also believe that, as a ranking member of the Senate, he has the requisite wealth of experience to bring to bear as part of the sterling qualities that should define the character of the Senate President”, says Comrade Awwal Abdullahi Aliyu, President of the Coalition.

The Coalition, while throwing its weight behind open contest, also called on well meaning Nigerians to continue resisting any form of imposition of candidates in the future electoral cycles.

“We therefore owe it a sense of duty to demand and insist that, the contenders to the seat of the Senate President must subject themselves to a level playing democratic process of equal opportunities.

“Importantly, the Northern Consensus Movement is calling on all concerned persons to prevail on the Distinguished Senator Abdulazeez Abubakar Yari, to remain steadfast in his quest for the Presidency of the 10th Senate.

“Beyond equally being a ranking Senator, Distinguished Senator Abdulazeez Abubakar Yari, is better and more prepared for the office and stands taller in the race than his contender, coming with a history of democratic experience.

“We call on all genuine democrats from the Northern Zone, including well meaning Nigerians, to aggregate a common ground to dislodge any tendency of imposing any vested interest in the 10th Senate or beyond “, Comrade Aliyu added.