The tension around the thorny issue of the leadership of the 10th National Assembly is dissipating as President-elect Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress have reached out to leading candidates who have now endorsed the position of the party.
The ruling party will before the end of the week announce its position on the zoning of the critical posts in the National Assembly ahead of the May 29 inauguration of the new government.
It has concluded that the position of the Senate President will go to the South-South while the North-west will take the Deputy Senate President post.
Invariably, Iwitnesslive can report that the party has settled for Senator Godwill Akpabio from Akwa Ibom State for the Senate Presidency while his main competitor in the race Senator Jibrin Barau from Kano State will serve as his deputy in the 10th Senate.
Although the nomination of the duo will only be ratified during the inauguration of the new National Assembly in June when they would stand as sole candidates for those two positions.
Sources said the choice of Akpabio, a former Governor, was predicated on the fact that an emergence of a Muslim Senate President could create further tension in the country following the controversy that trailed the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the ruling party at the last Presidential election.
A source said since the post is coming to the South and Southwest has been technically knocked out of the race given the fact that the President-elect is from the zone, it is proper for the slot to go to the South-South which contributed close to one million votes to the party’s success instead of the southeast where APC performed poorly.
“South-South contributed close to one million votes to Tinubu’s success in the election and Akpabio is considered one of the key men who worked for the party’s success in the region. It is not quite logical to hand a region which gave the party less than 10 percent of the vote such a critical role when qualified men are in the zone that worked for the party. It will amount to an injustice,” the source said.
“You can remember that Akpabio was the first presidential aspirant that announced the decision to step down for Tinubu during the primaries; he is also said to enjoy a very cordial relationship with the President-elect. He has the nod.”
Apart from Barau and Akpabio, other aspirants jostling for the Senate President seat include Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia North); Abdul-Aziz Yari (Zamfara West); Sani Musa (Niger East); Ali Ndume (Borno South), Osita Izunaso (Imo West), Dave Umahi (Ebonyi South) and Adams Oshiomhole (Edo North).
Iwitnesslive had reported that the Northwest caucus in the party had strongly demanded to be compensated with the Senate Presidency given that it contributed the largest votes to the party’s success at the last general election.
The caucus played down the issue of religion when it argued that there was a time the trio of the Senate President, his deputy and even the Speaker of the House of Representatives were Christians demanding that Barau shouldn’t be denied the opportunity based on religious sentiments.
However, the issue has been resolved following a meeting between the main contestants, the President-elect and the leadership of APC in Abuja on Tuesday.
