APC North-East Senators Demand Senate President Slot

Barely three days after the results of the National Assembly elections put the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the majority position in the Senate, the North-east has begun a clamour for the position of Senate president.

The returning and newly elected members of the Senate have started strategising for the seat of the Senate president, ostensibly to put themselves ahead of other regions’ campaigns. The argument is based on the notion that since APC won 13 Senate seats from the region, three from Borno, Adamawa and Bauchi each, while Gombe and Yobe produced two senators each, the region is the best qualified for the position.

PDP won all three Senate seats in Taraba State. LEADERSHIP gathered from impeccable sources in the National Assembly that the National Executive Committee of APC has already been put on notice of the plan.

A source who is a member of the Senate from the region said on condition of anonymity that the North-east has suffered marginalisation in the National Assembly and now is the time to pick up steam.

He said, “We are the most marginalised region in Nigeria and we deserve to be compensated this time around.” “In the outgoing assembly, the region was denied the Senate presidency by the PDP in 2011 when David Mark was returned from the North Central zone despite opposition from the North East senators,” he stated.

Usually, but not compulsorily, ranking members of the legislature are considered more eligible to vie for leadership positions as principal officers.

Following this order, Senator Ahmad Lawan from Yobe State may be positioned for the job from the region, having been in the National Assembly since 1999.