Senate presidency: Shettima in last-minute campaign for Akpabio

•Meets adamant senators •As aspirants dangle juicy committees

Taiwo Amodu and Collins Nnabuife

Despite its claim to the contrary, the Presidency is fully involved in the power game over who gets what in the 10th National Assembly, the Nigerian Tribune gathered at the weekend.

Vice-president, Senator Kashim Shettima, at the weekend, continued consultations with senators already identified to be supporting Senator Godswill Akpabio’s main rival, Abdul Aziz Yari.

The vice-president, on Saturday, attended a dinner organised by the Stability Group, the forum of senators working for the victory of the Senators Godswill Akpabio – Barau Jibrin ticket.

The dinner was attended by about 52 senators, across party lines.

Nigerian Tribune sighted certain opposition parties’ lawmakers at the meeting.

The list included Senators Abba Moro (PDP) Ifeanyi Abaribe (APGA) and Rufai Hanga (NNPP)

Before weekend’s meeting with members of the Stability Group, the vice-president had met with some lawmakers, particularly from the North already being swayed by the Abdul Aziz Yari narrative that the North was at the receiving end of power distribution by the Tinubu administration.

Senator Shettima’s involvement in the mobilisation for Akpabio-Jibrin ticket was at the instance of members of the Stability Group, who are already jolted that Yari’s narrative that the Northern interest be protected is gaining traction among senators from the region.

Penultimate week, the former Zamfara State governor and senator-elect, Zamfara West, led some of his supporters to Daura, Katsina state to meet with former president, Muhammadu Buhari, where he complained about the emerging power distribution in the new administration.

At the dinner hosted on Saturday at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Senator Shettima confirmed that he had seized the initiative to sell the Akpabio- Jubrin ticket which he noted, was meant to promote stability and national cohesion.

He told the gathering that he would not relent in talking and pleading with some of the lawmakers-elect working for the victory of Aziz Yari.

He said: “I am ready to beg my colleagues. I don’t want to mention their names but I am sure I will bring about five senators from the other camp to join this group.  My friend, Senator Ibrahim Geidam will give us all the senators from Yobe State. I am working on Taraba. Let me leave it here, I don’t want to expose all my strategies. I will take your permission to leave now because I still have consultations to make this night.”

The vice-president also offered reasons why his principal, Bola Tinubu, picked Akpabio from the South-South and a Christian as favoured candidate for Senate president.

He recalled the demonisation which trailed the All Progressives Congress (APC)Muslim-Muslim ticket and submitted that the Akpabio- Jibrin ticket was to give Christians a sense of belonging and ultimately, promote national cohesion.

He said: “This gathering represents the Nigerian nation. Here we are with a Muslim president and Vice President in a multi ethnic country like Nigeria. Justice, equity demands that the number 3 person must be a Christian. We must strive for inclusivity. This is a young nation where every community will like to be given a sense of belong.

“Politics is about perception, it is about optics. I want to appeal to you that that the stability of the nation is greater than the stability of your pocket.

“We are talking about the sustainability of the nation. The country is at a threshold.’

Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume applauded the Forum for acknowledging the diversity of the country.

“This forum appreciates the value of diversity. Diversity, if not well managed, can lead to disaster. Society has collapsed because they can’t manage diversity. Your focus is stability of the polity. With the number I have seen today, this is the winning team. I wish you the best of luck on Tuesday. “

Former Ebonyi State governor and senator elect, Ebonyi South, Dave Umahi told Senator Shettima that the Stability Group already had 72 senators backing Akpabio for the Senate president.

Akpabio, who thanked the vice-president and the SGF for associating with his group, also disclosed that members of the Stability Group cut across party lines.

“This group is across party lines, we will continue to bond together. This is a group of friends, brothers and sisters. We have one thing in mind: stability of Nigeria. We want to assure you that this is the way to go. I want to assure you, that we shall succeed on Tuesday,” he said.

Aspirants dangle juicy committees

The major contenders for the seat of Senate president, aside from monetary inducements, are also said to be promising lawmakers juicy committee seats after election.

Multiple sources revealed that certain senators in the Stability Group, who are the arrowheads of the Akpabio- Jubrin ticket already have promises of chairmanship of Senate Committees to the bargain.

A source revealed that “one of the senators from Ogun State has secured the chairmanship of Senate Committee on Appropriation for himself while his counterpart also from one of the South-West states has his gaze on the exalted seat of Senate Leader.  We don’t know who will get the seat of Senate Leader between the lawmaker from Ekiti State and his counterpart from Borno who has also been promised the position of Leader of the Senate,” the source told Nigerian Tribune.”

Clark, group back Akpabio

Ijaw Leader and Convener of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum PANDEF), Chief Edwin Clark, has appealed to senators who will be voting on Tuesday to elect Senator Godswill Akpabio as president of the 10th Senate.

The elder statesman made the appeal at the weekend when senators-elect and members of the Stability Group, the forum promoting the aspiration of the senator elect for Akwa-Ibom North  West for leadership of the Senate, paid him a visit at his Asokoro residence in Abuja.

Clark, who recalled the single faith ticket that produced Tinubu and Shettima as president and vice-president, respectively, also noted that the Chief Justice of Nigeria is also a Muslim.

In an apparent reference to Senator Akpabio’s  main rival for the exalted seat, Abdul Aziz Yari, Clark maintained that it would not be proper to vote another Muslim as president of the Senate.

He said: “The North cannot do it alone. And we the South cannot do it alone. We should be equal partners. If all the positions are taken by Muslims, then we don’t have a country and the division continues.

“The President of Nigeria is a Muslim. The Vice President of Nigeria is a Muslim. The Chief Justice of Nigeria is a Muslim. The Chief of Staff to the President is a Muslim. The Speaker of the House of Representatives they are going to elect is a Muslim. So what kind of country are we going to have?”

“It is time to heal our land and in so doing, what I expect of the 10th Senate to do is to give the position of the Senate President to a Christian Senator from the South South.

“Therefore, the president of the Senate should be supported to emerge from the South-South. A South-South senator, who is a Christian. So, I am happy you are here and you have my blessings to become the next Senate President.”

In his response, Senator Akpabio who, incidentally is the immediate past Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, assured the leader of the Ijaw Nation that if elected, he would use his good offices as Senate president to secure a better deal for the Niger Delta region.

“One of the problems we have in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is revenue generation. The law says the oil companies should pay three percent of their yearly budget to the commission, unfortunately, there was no sanction. So, the three percent is just there. If you don’t pay, what happens? Nothing.

“So, as it is, we have to beg the oil companies before they can comply with the law. As at now, the oil companies are owing the NDDC $5.6bn in the last 20 years. The National Assembly can take steps to enforce the law because the goose that lays the golden eggs deserves some kind of rewards.

“If such a law comes into being then measures can be put in place to develop the region and stop people from dying every year through flooding like it happened in Bayelsa. It would also take care of the environment which has been ravaged through illegal oil bunkering, oil pollution and acid rain.

“We are almost in a war zone, where we are good for the purposes of extracting economic benefits and then abandoned thereafter. The East West road has not been completed because of inadequate funding. Addressing these issues starts from the Parliament.

“I am here today, not to only tell you about the zoning arrangement but to formally tell you that I am coming out once again, to make you, the South-South region and the entire country proud and to also receive your blessings and prayers for the task ahead,” Akpabio said.

Similarly, the Arewa New Agenda (ANA) has said it will be unfair for a Northern Muslim to emerge Senate President.

ANA said the Senate Presidency seat should be left for the southern Christian, especially Godswill Akpabio whom they described as a gifted leader with an uncommon grace to navigate treacherous and difficult political landscape.

In a statement signed by the Convener of ANA, Senator Ahmed Abubakar MoAllahyidi, it expressed concern that a situation where all the leadership of the Executive, Legislature and the judiciary are Muslims does not provide the needed balance, inclusion and cohesion.

He said it is time for the APC to reward Nigerians who put their fate in the hands of the party despite the clamor by those who vehemently oppose the choice of two Muslims as President and Vice President.

“The election of principal officers of the two chambers of the national assembly is coming at a time when some sections of the polity are already jittery of the fact that the President and Vice President are Muslims, the Chief Justice of Nigeria CJN is a Muslim and the front-runner for the Speaker of the house of representatives is also a Muslim.

“ANA is concerned that a situation where all the leadership of the Executive, Legislature and the judiciary are Muslims does not provide the needed balance, inclusion and cohesion that our diversity requires at this moment; it is for this reason that the quest to have a Southern Christian as President of the 10th Senate is laudable, commendable and most reassuring.

“Taking deliberate steps to reserve the position for the South with a Christian on the saddle is a bold move that has the propensity of further uniting Nigeria across both tribal and religious lines.

“It is a very desirable and progressive move that is capable of engendering peace and national stability. It will also demonstrate, empathy, accommodation and a sense of belonging that will erode the fear of exclusion and marginalization”, the statement said.

ANA also said it is mindful of the fact that in the lead up to the determination of the Leadership of the 10th Senate, many highly qualified contenders have publicly thrown their hats into the ring and they come from different regions of the country.

They however, appealed to the northerners among the contenders for the Senate Presidency seat, especially the Muslims, to defer their ambition as a sacrifice to promote the spirit of brotherhood, fraternal accommodation and goodwill.

“A groundswell of patriotic and informed leaders has in recent times spoken of the iterative fit of someone from the South-South geopolitical zone to head the 10th Senate.

“This being the only zone never to have held the Position of Senate President in this era of our democratic expression (1999 to date).

“The current dispensation requires leaders with character and tenacity; Senator Godswill Akpabio comes across as a gifted leader with an uncommon grace to navigate the treacherous and difficult political landscape, having built enduring bridges across the Political, ethnic and religious landscape of a multifaceted country like Nigeria, his political sagacity and accommodating win-win ethos will be the highly needed skills required to head the 10th Senate.

“For the APC as a political party, it is time to reward Nigerians who put their fate in the hands of the party despite the clamor by pundits who vehemently oppose the choice of two Muslims as President and Vice President.

“It is therefore critical to reduce the usual acrimony that characterizes struggle for power among the geo-political zones, in a manner that will reduce unnecessary distractions and foster a peaceful and smooth take-off of the new dispensation under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“ANA will like to use this opportunity to call on well-meaning Nigerians to support President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Sen. Kashim Shettima, in their onerous task of taking Nigeria to great heights”, the statement added.