Within the political circle at this very moment, one of the questions on the lips of many is, who will become the next Senate President? It is one of the firecest political battles going on within the ruling party right now. The stakes are very high. The contenders are all gearing up for the big showdown. But the front runner remains the former Minister for Niger Delta Affairs and former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio. He, going by the body language of the party hierachy, appears to be the favoured candidate.
Many were shocked at the emergence of Akpabio as a front runner to the senate presidency. The one person in whose direction everyone was looking to clinch the seat was the President-elect’s very good friend, former Abia State Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu. He was one of the first, if not the very first, to jump out of the blocks firing on all cylinders. He made it clear he wanted the seat and showed a desire and hunger that left no one in doubt as to his seriousness. His claim to the throne, apart from being a very close friend of the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is hinged on the fact that he is a ranking officer of the senate. Out of the lot vying for the throne, he coinsiders himself the most experienced.
Weeks ago, the Abia strong man spoke to press men, “I will like the party to zone it to my zone, to my village in Igbere because the president-elect needs people of high character to turn around the economy and work for the masses and make laws that will enable him turn around the economy. This because, I am an economic person, an entrepreneur,” he said.
And as to why he feels he is most qualified, Orji Uzor Kalu responded: “The Senate has rules. Let me be honest with you, if we practice true democracy, I should not be in contest with any body, because apart from the senate president, deputy senate president,the Senate Leader, I am the next ranking member in the Senate going by the position I occupy today in the 9th Senate. It is virtually impossible that the Senate will elect or zone it to a new member of the Senate. The Senate is an established institution that needs somebody with an experience,some one with the skills and will be able to relate,” Orji Kalu said.
Unfortunately, things didn’t quite pan out for Kalu the way he expected. The senate presidency was not zoned to the south- east, it was taken to the south-south. And this is where Godswill Akpabio emerged favourite to clinch the seat. And from all inmdications, he has the backing and the endorsement of the President-elect.
According to Abdullahi Ganduje, the outgoing Kano Governor said the decision to nominate Akpabio was already a done deal, but he did not explain if it was a decision of the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership.
“The senate president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will come from the south-south and it is no other person than the former governor of Akwa Ibom,” he said. “The uncommon governor, the uncommon minister who is going to be the uncommon president of the senate. So we have resolved that.”
“I am giving you assurance, we are waiting for the D-Day that he will be the senate president of Nigeria.” And if anyone was still in doubt, the drama that happened at a political event two weeks ago in which the President-elect specially asked Godswill Akpabio to step out and speak to the gathering is a clear testament to the fact that Akpabio not only has the endorsement of Asiwaju, he also has the support of his colleagues. By the time Akpabio stepped out to make his speech, over 40 lawmakers had joined him on stage in solidarity to publicly endorse him as the next Senate President of the 10th Assembly.
The big question is, why did the President prefer to endorse Goodswill Akpabio and ignore his friend, Orji Uzor Kalu? What is Godswill Akpabio bringing to the table? Going by City People investigation, the preference for Akpabio by the president was not based on sentiments but based purely on realistic political indices. Apart from the fact that Akpabio worked hard for the victory of President Tinubu at the polls, he was one of those who stepped down for Mr. President at the APC primary. He just didn’t step down, he eulogised the president and hailed him as a leader of men, a discoverer of talents and a man who has paid his dues and deserves to be president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Unlike Orji Kalu and some of the other contenders, Akpabio was very involved in the presidential campaigns of Tinubu. He was also very instrumental to the good showing of the president during the polls in the Niger Delta region. But there were other factors considered by the president, apart from Akpabio’s invaluable contribution to the party’s victory at the presidentiall polls.
According to the Vice President Kashim Shettima, the President, Bola Tinubu, picked Godswill Akpabio as his preferred candidate for the position of senate president to avoid the “negative narrative of Islamization”.
Shettima revealed this during a meeting with some elected lawmakers including Tajudeen Abbas, whose ambition to be House Speaker has been endorsed by Mr Tinubu and the ruling party, APC. Vice President Shettima said Tinubu wants to prevent a situation where the President, Vice President, Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives would all be Muslims.
The President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Shettima and Abbas are all Muslims while Akpabio is a Christian.The same faith ticket of Tinubu and Shettima already created a situation where the president and Vice President are Muslims. There have, therefore, been calls by many Nigerians for the APC to ensure religious balance in its choice of presiding officers of the parliament.
President Tinubu and the APC picked Mr Akpabio (South-South) and Barau Jibrin (North-west) as preferred senate president and Deputy Senate President respectively. They also picked Abbas (North-west) and Ben Kalu (South-east) as speaker and deputy speaker.
However, the decision has been criticised by some lawmakers and members of the party for various reasons including the fact that the North-central was excluded from the arrangement.
Three aspirants for the senate president’s seat, Abdulaziz Yari (APC-Zamfara), Sani Musa (APC-Niger) and Orji Kalu (APC-Abia) have been very vocal in speaking against the arrangement.
Explaining the rationale for the zoning arrangement, Shettima said “What we are trying to avoid is a situation whereby the number one citizen, number two citizen, the number three citizen and the number four citizen are all of the same faith. That will validate the negative narrative of the Islamization of Nigeria.
“That is why my principal, the President, a fair-minded individual, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu insists the number three citizen must come from the South-South (Christian). The stability of the nation is more important than any other consideration. We are talking about inclusivity,” he said.
Clearly, the president has made the right choice. The Muslim-Muslim ticket issue very nearly caused the APC it’s victory. The last thing the president would want to do now is take wrong decisions that could rock the boat of his very young administration.
-WALE LAWAL
(08037209290)
Send Us News, Gist, more... to citypeopleng@gmail.com | Twitter: @CitypeopleMagz
