• North-central caucus kicks as APC moves to
zone post to North-east
Chuks Okocha in Abuja
The battle for the principal offices of the
National Assembly has taken another turn
with the National Leader of the All
Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola
Tinubu, withdrawing his support for the
former Governor of Benue State, Senator
George Akume, as his preferred candidate for
the Senate presidency.
By jettisoning Akume, it is a clear indication
that the North-central geopolitical zone may
have lost out in its bid for the number one
position in the National Assembly to the
North-east zone.
THISDAY gathered that the former governor of
Lagos and his wife, Remi Tinubu on Monday
night decided to pitch their tents with Senator
Ahmed Lawan from Yobe State.
In withdrawing his support for Akume,
Tinubu, sources informed THISDAY, offered
him the choice of becoming the deputy
Senate president, which Akume immediately
turned down.
It was also learnt that in the meeting of the
North-central caucus of the APC that also
took place on Monday night, when they got
wind of the Senate presidency being zoned to
the North-east, the news did not go down
well with the leaders of the zone.
According to APC sources, the North-central
caucus frowned at the continued
manipulation of the system by Tinubu without
considering the input of the zone to the
recent electoral success of the party.
A party source said senators and other elected
officials of APC from the North-central zone
were worried, considering the fact that the
Middle Belt completely turned the zone from
a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-dominated
region to one controlled by APC.
“In the Middle Belt, Niger, Kwara, Benue,
Plateau and Kogi were all PDP states, till they
became APC states with the exception of
Nasarawa State. Whereas, in the North-east,
only Adamawa and Bauchi became APC states,
as Yobe and Borno were hitherto APC states.
“So why is the national leadership of APC
compensating the zone with the office of the
Senate presidency? This is not how to reward
victory.
“This also explains why Senator Akume turned
down the offer for office of the deputy Senate
presidency, as it would have been a sellout
because of personal interests,” the source
said.
Also at the Senate plenary yesterday, Remi
Tinubu who is also a senator, caused a stir
when she openly campaigned for Lawan to the
surprise of other senators who were still
under the impression that the Senate
presidency was still zoned to the North-
central geopolitical zone.
As the source put it: “To see Senator Remi
Tinubu campaigning for Ahmed Lawan will tell
you where the pendulum has swung. She is
the wife of the national leader and certainly
the wife cannot go against the husband.”
THISDAY gathered that North-central members
of the APC including all the elected governors,
senators-elect and members-elect of the
House of Representatives were planning to
write a joint petition against the party’s move
to zone the office of the Senate presidency to
the North-east.
“This is not how to reward the zone that
enhanced the political fortunes of APC,” the
party source said, adding that all the interest
of stakeholders must be protected at all cost,
unless the party is looking for trouble.
Speaking on the various power blocs that
make up the APC, the party source said
President-elect Muhammadu Buhari, for
instance, is representing the Congress for
Progressives Change (CPC); Vice-President-
elect Yemi Osinbanjo is representing the
Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN); while the
planned zoning of the Secretary to the
Government of the Federation (SGF) to the
South-east is to take care of the political
interest of the All Nigeria Peoples Party
(ANPP).
According to the source, “For the former
governor, Tinubu, to be manipulating the
political interest of other stakeholders would
turn out to be the political albatross of the
APC. All interests must be protected. This is
one of the issues that the PDP was accused of
and to allow it to happen in APC so early in
the day, is to sow the seed of discord for the
APC.”
www.thisdaylive.com/articles/senate-presidency-tinubu-withdraws-support-for-akume-lobbies-for-ahmed-lawan/208045/

APC, una well done oooo

Baba and osibanjo are the most important personalities I voted under APC, therefore they continue their blind arguements..

Where is tinubu going to get support from. not the yoruba people...

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Why cant we just find the right person for the job irrespective of his zone or state. APC needs to stop all this crazy zoning stuff because this was what brought problem and division to PDP.

Is Tinubu now the Don Crucifixio of Nigerian politics? He better stay out of NASS and let them choose by their selves. The VP slot is enough for him coupled with some ministerial appointments that he may get.

Why not have Ngige as the senate presient