North West Group Endorses Yari for President of the Senate

Ahead of the June 13 inauguration of the 10th Senate, a progressive women group has called on senators to settle for former Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari.

This is even as the group urged lawmakers from the zone ask the party to do away with it’s earlier zoning list.

They urged Nigerians, particularly the lawmakers to shun sectionalism, regionalism, ethnicity and “focus on developing the nation.”

MASARI, TANKO YAKASSAI LAUDS TINUBU OVER ZONING

Outgoing Governor of Katsina State Aminu Masari and elder statesman, Tanko Yakasai yesterday hailed President-elect Bola Tinubu for the zoning of the two topmost National Assembly positions by the All Progressives Congress( APC) to the Southsouth and Northwest.

They described the endorsements of Godswill Akpabio as President of the 10th Senate and Tajudeen Abbas as House of Representatives Speaker as rewards for the people of Southsouth and Northwest for their loyalty and contributions during the presidential election.

The duo, therefore, called on those keen on holding any of the key offices to respect the zoning arrangement as loyal party members

But as the governor and Yakassai made the appeal, some aspirants for House of Representatives Speaker said they had yet to be formally notified of the zoning by the APC leadership.

The APC National Working Committee(NWC) had last week also announced Jibrin Barau as deputy Senate President and Benjamen Kalu as deputy Speaker.

Masari, who spoke when Abbas visited him in company with some House members-elect in Katsina, praised Tinubu for “ceding the position of Speaker to us (Northwest).”

“I believe we should work with what the party said on zoning. This is our project. This visit is just a formality,” the governor said.

He told Abbas and his supporters that the onus was on them to make their nomination a reality by further consulting across party lines.

Former Kebbi State Governor, Senator Adamu Aliero, who was present at the event promised to mobilise Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers from Kebbi to support Abbas’ aspiration.

Yakasai, who spoke in Kano, said that Tinubu’s choice of Akpabio is a wise and excellent decision.

Describing the President-elect as the most experienced Nigerian politician, he said: “Senator Godswill Akpabio will help support his(Tinubu) administration in discharging its responsibilities.

“Don’t forget that Tinubu, as a former two-term governor and former senator, knows what he is doing.

“His(Tinubu) choice of Akpabio and Barau Jibrin, therefore, was not done just merely for it. He did it to have a team that will assist him in the running of his government.”

Rising from an emergency meeting in Jos, Plateau State, the North Central APC Forum announced that it was backing the NWC zoning arrangement

It advised those aggrieved to sheath their swords and support the decision as loyal members.

Saleh Zazzaga, chairman of the group said: “We in the Northcentral APC Forum have thrown our weight behind the party’s zoning arrangement and we also stand by the consensus of the Senate President and the Speaker.

“We all know the antecedents of Senator Godswill Akoabio as the governor of Akwa Ibom State and even as a senator, as well as Hon. Tajudeen Abass from Kaduna State.”

Zazzaga said the forum resolved to affirm its support for the appointment of Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong as Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

It added that Lalong had contributed immensely to the success of the APC and the emergence of our Tinubu as president-elect.