Northern stakeholders from across political parties and religious divides are set to convene a meeting to deliberate over the choice of the Senate Chief Whip, Orji Uzor Kalu and Senator Sani Musa for Senate President and Deputy Senate President of the 10th Senate Respectively
The stakeholders comprising Senators-elect, traditional and religious leaders, it was learnt, have also agreed to endorse Kalu and his Niger East senator colleague as the choice of Tinubu and other senators-elect.
It will be recalled that Tinubu had during the week asked the Progressives Congress (APC) throw open the senate presidency of the incoming 10th National Assembly to the South with no particular preference to any zone.
It was also learnt that the majority of senators -elect have keyed into the directive with them expressing confidence in the duo of returning Senators Orji Kalu and Sani Musa to occupy the offices of the President and Deputy Senate President of the National Assembly.
Flowing from that background, a northern source from the APC leadership who asked not to be mentioned revealed that there was still disagreement among the Northern stakeholders on who becomes the Senate President.
It was learnt that some stakeholders still want the North to produce the senate president while others counseled against that choice.
Those who were opposed to the idea of the north producing the Senate President advised that the office should be zoned to the south east to give recourse to nation’s tripod of Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba for the sake of peace and unity of the country.
According to the NWC member “The South East may have been ignored in the past and we do not want a situation whereby the incoming government will be faced with a lot of challenges. The political consciousness and awareness in today’s Nigeria is one that should not be overlooked.
“We know we gave the votes but peaceful governance should also be considered. We will meet and take decisions on the President-elect’s decision. We are definitely not against his choice of Senator Orji Uzor Kalu and Senator Sani Musa as President and Deputy President respectively because both of them are acceptable to all Nigerians considering their character and personality. But we will also want the president-elect to take serious measures to appreciate the North West for their contribution”.
Another ranking senator-elect who pleaded anonymity said the meeting of the stakeholders will help the North to move in unison.
According to the Senator-elect, it is expected that every region will fight for their interest to be protected in the incoming administration.
On the choice of Orji Kalu, the lawmaker held that there were no grudges against the candidature of the former Abia Governor, describing him as strong ally of the North.
“We not opposed to Kalu becoming the Senate President. Over the years, he has proven to have our interest at heart. You can see from the prestigious traditional titles he has earned from us but we need to come together and agree on this because our interest is paramount. By the end of the meeting involving various stakeholders in the North, we will know the direction of the North.
“It will strengthen us more. If the senate president will not come to us we will make other demands. We will support the choice of Kalu and Musa because they have the numbers to win the election too.
“They are popular among the northern senators and it is fair and just to have a South Easterner as the President of the 10th Assembly. A lot of my colleagues share the same sentiment that a South Easterner should be President of the Senate”, the source said.
Meanwhile, the minority caucuses of members-elect in the House of Representatives comprising the opposition parties of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP); Labour Party (LP); African Democratic Congress (ADC); All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA); Social Democratic Party (SDP); and Young People’s Party (YPP) will meeting Tuesday to deliberate on the speakership of the 10th House.
It will be recalled that the caucus which described themselves as “Greater Majority” are bouyed by their numerical strength of 183 to decide who becomes the speaker.
A notice made available to Vanguard in Abuja stated the convener of the meeting is Hon. Fred Agbedi of the PDP while co-coveners cut across members of other political parties.
