Senate Presidency: APC Senators-elect Drum Support for Kalu

Senators from the South-west geopolitical zone have insisted that the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, needs the Igbo 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 have chosen to support fairness and justice, noting that the country is built on the tripod – Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.

They added that excluding the Igbo in the three positions in the country might be counter-productive.

The resolution of the senators followed the 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 that some three senators from the South-west went behind them to present an aspirant who was not from the South-east geopolitical zone before the president-elect Tuesday night.

The senator-elect said they have already made their choice of the Chief Whip of the outgoing Senate, Senator 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 (oresident-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 that they were only acting out a script.

“Those three are just pursuing their personal interests. One was promised one Appropriation committee and the other two juicy committees. So, it’s basically about their interests not for Tinubu’s success or unity of Nigeria. Is the opinion of three senators greater than the opinion of 12 senators? We have endorsed Senator Kalu and Senator Musa as our preferred presiding officers and we shall deliver them on June 13,” he said.