The ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) may have recorded a resounding collective victory in the last general elections; there seems not to be a collective party arrangement concerning the incoming leadership of the 10th National Assembly. Though a section of the party leadership has come out to say that it has zoned some offices of the National Assembly to a couple of regions to reflect unity in diversity, that arrangement appears to have failed to earn the support of many of the returning ranking members of the legislative body.
One of the returning members of the National Assembly who believe that the so-called APC zoning arrangement does not truly reflect unity is Senator Abdul’aziz Yari, former governor of Zamfara State, and has since thrown his hat into the ring, jostling to become the Senate President of the 10th National Assembly. In fact, Yari was one of the first to declare interest in running for the office in March.
According to Yari, the 10th Assembly deserves a compassionate, honest, and result-driven Senate President, whom he embodies. A two-term governor, Yari has demonstrated leadership capacity and competence that qualify place him on good stead to emerge as Senate President.
While maintaining that he was in the race as provided for by section 50 (2) of the 1999 Constitution, he said, “My aspiration for Presidency of the 10th Senate is covered by relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution, which to me is superior to any other law or arrangement.
“I am a loyal party man. Nobody has told me that any position has been zoned to anywhere as far as the 10th National Assembly is concerned. Position of President of the Senate is first among equals among the 109 Senators. Any Senator-elect, who wants to occupy the position, must seek the support of others which I am doing.
“It is hire and fire arrangement. I want them to hire me as President of the 10th Senate on the day of inauguration. Many of those approached by me, have given their supports and I won’t disappoint them. My becoming Senate President on the day of inauguration lies with decision that will be made by 108 other senators that day and nothing else,” he said.
Besides his leadership qualities, Yari has explained that the party zoning arrangement that gave support to former governor of Akwa Ibom, Senator Godwin Akpabio was an idea that downplayed the huge role the northern Nigeria, which according to him, gave sixty percent of the total votes that gave Asiwaju Bola Tinubu presidential victory. He stated that the North should not relegated in the scheme of things, as all the heads of the three arms of governments (legislature, executive and judiciary) would have gone to southern Nigeria by the time the present administration has left the office in June. He has therefore rejected the APC zoning of the position to the south-south.
In an interview he granted on Tuesday, Yari lamented the fact that the North is not being given any opportunities in governance in the incoming administration, simply because the President-Elect and Vice-President Elect ran with a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
In response to the zoning, Yari said, “I haven’t seen wherever in the constitution where it says Christian must be president, Muslim must be president or vice president.”
He went on to say that the constitution did not recognize Islam or Christianity, that all the constitution recognized was the right to religion. “If president elect decides to do a Muslim-Muslim ticket, that is the business of the president and the executives. And if the parliamentary decides to do a Muslim-Muslim, it is the business of the parliament,” saying that there had been times in the country where the parliament had chosen Christians for the roles of Senate President, Deputy Senate President, and Speaker of the House of Representatives at the same time.
Yari went on to point out how the major people in this administration’s governance- the President, Senate President, Future Chief Justice of Nigeria, are all from the south. He then said that after the north provided over 60% of the votes Tinubu garnered to win the election, it was unfair for the APC to expect the North to be satisfied since the Vice-President hailed from the North-East.
The former governor then confirmed that he was still in the running from the senate presidency, and that the zoning did not phase him in the least.
Meanwhile, a good number of senators-elect on the platform of the ruling party as well as other parties have signified their plans to support Yari. While many of them have been working underground to ensure that Yari’s ambition sees the light of day, some others have been strategic in their support for Yari.
Senator-elect of Kano South Senatorial Constituency, Sulaiman Kawu Sumaila of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) has said that the APC arrangement was an insult on the parliament, saying Yari remains his candidate for the office of Senate President.
