Group Insists on Retaining Senate Presidency in North-central

Laleye Dipo in Minna

A coalition of youth groups in Niger State has cautioned that it would resist any attempt by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to take away the senate presidency from the North-central geo-political zone of the country.

The group said in a statement made available to journalists in Minna, Niger State wednesday that it had observed the clandestine moves by some leaders of the APC to unseat the Senate President Bukola Saraki and zone the position to another geo-political zone of the country.

The statement signed by the Chairman of the North-central Youth Group, Alhaji Mohammed Yahaya Usman, named the APC’s National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole and the leader of the party Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the arrow heads of “this dangerous move”.

“Let it be made abundantly clear that the calculated effort to snatch away the Senate Presidency from the north central to another region in the north is very clear to us, are we not north enough? Is Saraki not a northerner? Why is the haste in the calculative attempt at removing Saraki?

“We from the north central Nigeria have never dabbled into other region’s politics and we expect the other zones will also leave us alone,” Usman added.

He added that “It might interest the duo of Oshiomhole and Tinubu that our long silence does not in any way connote weakness; we respect them as leaders in their various zones and will want a similar respect for our leaders in return. To put the message straight, Saraki is not a political orphan and any attempt at attacking him is an attack on the North-central and we shall resist that with all our strength within the confines of the law

“Our position on this issue is simple, leave Saraki alone or you will face our anger in the ballot box in 2019,” the group threatened.