Senate Presidency: Northwest Political Group Insists on Sen. Jibrin, Rejects Deputy Senate Position

Senate Presidency: Northwest Political Group Insists on Sen. Jibrin, Rejects Deputy Senate Position

  • Sen. Barau Jibrin has been urged by the Arewa political forum to vie for the position of president of the Senate
  • According to the group, the north had already ceded the number one position to the south, therefore, it would not accept a second position in the senate
  • The group further dismissed the rumoured endorsement of Sen Goodswill Akpabio, by the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu

The Arewa Political Forum has urged Sen. Barau Jibrin to vie for the position of president of the Senate, rejecting the call for him to run for deputy.

The group made the declaration after an emergency meeting on Sunday, in Kaduna.

The group said the north had already ceded the number one position to the south, therefore, it would not accept the position of the deputy in the senate.

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Sen. Jibrin backed for Senate presidency
Northwest political group insists on Sen. Jibrin as Senate president. Photo credit: Arewa Mandate
Source: UGC

The forum said:

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''We sacrificed the number one position, and now they want us to let this go; it won’t happen,'' Dr Abubakar Daura, Convener of the group told newsmen.
''We insist on Sen Barau Jibrin, not just because he is from the Northwest, but because he is the most competent among all the other candidates for the office of the President of the Senate.
''Jibrin is the highest-ranking, longest-serving legislator in the Senate, and deserves to be the next Senate President.
''He is also from the state that has supported the All Progressives Congress (APC), since inception, and gave the highest votes during the 2023 Presidential Election,'' Daura said.

The group further dismissed the rumoured endorsement of Sen Goodswill Akpabio, by the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu, maintaining that the North must produce the 10th President of the Senate.

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''Barau is the choice of the North and cannot decide on his own to accept the deputy position being offered him.

''It is beyond him, let us have the Senate Presidency as compensation for sacfriicing and conceding the number one position to the south.
''We are begging the president elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reciprocate our kind gesture to him and the south by endorsing and supporting Sen. Barau Jibrin.
It will be recalled that another group, Conference of APC Support Groups, had earlier called on Jibrin to run the position of President of the Senate, saying the Northwest had worked hard for the party and deserved the position.
''As it stands today, the All Progressives Congress (APC), will be in the majority in both chambers of the National Assembly, with 57 Senators-Elect and 160 Reps-Elect from the official results declared so far by INEC.
''The role of the National Assembly in enabling true democracy to thrive cannot be overemphasised.

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''And so we the critical stakeholders of the APC believe that the party should not leave anything to chance in ensuring that all of those who worked for its success in the just concluded general elections are carried along.
''This is to avoid a reoccurrence of the 2015 scenario where some elected National Assembly members, on the platform of the APC, formed an unholy alliance with opposition parties and rocked the boat of the APC."

Also, Adamu Garba, a former APC presidential aspirant, said that if Jibrin was elected President, the North will further be assured of APC's commitment to the Northwest and so would have its full support in subsequent elections.

''The Tinubu administration will have a baggage free 10th National Assembly, as it will have competent leadership with Jibrin at the top.
''This is a win-win for the APC, and Insha Allah, a smooth sail for Asiwaju upto 2027, this is reasonable, apt, political and commonsensical proposal,'' Garba said.

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The group therefore, expressed its belief in Jibrin as that a formidable candidate, who had all it would take to be the number three in the hierarchy of the country's leadership,
''No doubt that the seat of the President of the Senate is a top position which wields a lot of influence, and one that holds the gavel to either make or mar the executive.
''This position must therefore be given only to a deserving party member, whose loyalty cannot be in doubt, and whose interest must be the success of the incoming APC government, and by extension, the growth and development of Nigeria.

APC forum recommends Akpabio for Senate president, Jibrin as deputy

Recall that the Concerned All Progressives Congress (APC) members forum has recommended what it described as the best candidate for the position of Senate president and deputy.

The Forum made this known in a statement made available to Legit.ng and signed by its convener Comrade Okpokwu Ogenyi.

It recommended H.E Senator Godswill Akpabio for the position of Senate president and Senator Barau I. Jibrin as deputy Senate president respectively.

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Nnenna Ibeh avatar

Nnenna Ibeh Nnenna Ibeh is a journalist with over 10 years of experience with various media organisations including Premium Times. Being on the front burner of reporting politics and the different dimensions of governance, she is also passionate about girls' education and women's and children's health. With degrees in Journalism, Peace Studies & Conflict Res., and Dev. Studies, Nnenna has worked in the dev. sector as a communications officer for the Centre for Democracy and Dev. email: ibehnnenna@gmail.com