[Full List]: Oshiomhole, Umahi, Lawan, Others Join Senate President Race As APC Moves To Avoid Muslim-Muslim Leadership

Barely one week after the National Assembly elections, some political bigwigs in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have begun subtle campaigns among their colleagues for the position of Senate President and other principal positions.

Naija News gathered that those reportedly eyeing the nation’s number three position are the incumbent President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, and some of the senators-elect, like Orji Uzor Kalu, Barau Bibrin, Godswill Akpabio, Adams Oshiomhole, Abdul-Aziz Yari and Dave Umahi.

However, the APC  leadership may zone the office of the Senate President to the South-east as part of moves to appease the Igbo, having missed out on the presidential contest in all the parties at a time the clamour for a president of Southeast extraction was high.

According to This Day, if the Senate Presidency is zoned to the South-east, the current Senate Chief Whip, Kalu, a former governor of Abia State, has the brightest chance as a ranking senator with cognate experience from that part of the country in APC.

Other analysts believe that the ruling party may want to appease the North West by acknowledging their contribution to the emergence of the president-elect, which may well see the likes of Jibrin and Yari in the race for the senate president.

According to Party sources, the party leadership is inclined to avoid another Muslim-Muslim leadership for the top job in Senate. With that in mind, some of the high flyers currently nursing interest may be edged out of contention.

ThisDay reports that the entrance of Adams Oshiomhole, a former APC national chairman, former two-term governor of Edo State, and erstwhile National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), into the race, was surprising to keen watchers of the political game-playing out in the National

Some Oshiomhole campaigners believe Asiwaju Tinubu would be more comfortable working with him than anyone else among the current frontrunners because of their age-long relationship and partnership.

While David Umahi is one of the first-term senator-elect jostling to be Senate President from the South East geopolitical zone, he is banking on the possibility the office would be taken to the East.

No fewer than 13 former governors have been cleared by INEC as members of the forthcoming Senate whenever the 10th National Assembly is inaugurated. About 93 senatorial seats out of the 109 contested by various candidates across the political parties have so far been announced by INEC. Before the February 25 National Assembly elections, at least 55 of the current 109 senators in the ninth Senate either failed to secure return tickets from their various political parties or aspired to contest governorship elections in their respective states. Five senators contested the APC presidential primary. They included the President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan (APC, Yobe North); Rochas Okorocha (APC, Imo West); Ibikunle Amosun (APC, Ogun Central); Ajayi Robert Borrofice (APC, Ondo North), and Akpabio. Three others who resigned included Senators Abdullahi Adamu (APC, Nasarawa West), who is now the National Chairman of APC; Abubakar Kyari (APC, Borno North), who is the current Deputy National Chairman of the party; and Hassan Mohammed (APC, Zamfara Central), who became Deputy Governor of Zamfara State.

From the list of winners, APC has won 54 seats, while the Peoples Democratic Party has 27 seats. Others are Labour Party with six seats, New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) with two seats, Social Democratic Party (SDP) with two seats, while the Young Progressives Party (YPP) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) have one seat each.