Senate Presidency: Confusion In Yari’s Camp Over Who To Nominate

Indications are that there might be confusion in the camp of the former Zamfara State governor, Abdulaziz Yari over who to nominate for the seat of the Senate President.

Naija News reports that the leadership of the All Progressive Congress (APC) had in May anointed Godswill Akpabio as Senate President and Senator Barau Jubrin as his deputy, while Hon Tajudeen Abbass was also endorsed for the Speaker of the House of Representatives, with Hon Benjamin Kalu as his deputy.

However, contenders for the position for the principal position in the incoming 10th National Assembly from the APC have kicked against the party’s zoning arrangement.

Some of the aspirants for the position of Senate President who kicked against the party’s zoning arrangement despite all pleas include Yari, Orji Uzor Kalu and Osita Isunazo, who have allied to battle Akpabio who is the anointed candidate of the party for the position.

However, sources from within Yari’s camp have revealed that there was confusion among the three, Yari, Kalu and Isunazo on Monday night over who to nominate for the position.

According to Leadership, the trio who are yet to decide on who to nominate for the office of Senate president met last night in a popular hotel (names withheld) outside the outskirts of Abuja to take a final position on who to support.

But sources privy to the meeting said the meeting resulted in a hot argument over who to nominate and support among the three, as Kalu was said to have threatened to back out of the group to join the party’s consensus candidate.

According to the source, after heated arguments among the trio and their sponsors, including a serving presiding officer of the Senate, who has vowed never to toe the path of the president and National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, those who spoke in support of Yari outnumbered those who spoke in support of Kalu and Izunaso.

Following this Kalu was said to have threatened to dump the group for the president’s choices if the group refused to reconsider its decision not to support him for the Senate presidency after the party had long zoned the office to the south.

Kalu, who was said to have threatened to walk out of the meeting told Yari’s sponsors that it would be the height of religious insensitivity on the path of the former Zamfara governor to want to occupy the office of the Senate president when the president and his vice are both Muslims.

This platform gathered that Kalu having threatened to dump the group was offered the position of deputy Senate president and Izunaso, chairman, of the Senate Committee on Appropriation.

It was not clear if Kalu and Izunazo accepted the offer but sources at the meeting said Kalu might eventually drop out of the group.

“With the way things are going on now in our camp, Kalu might dump the group because of their selfishness and insensitivity to national peace and unity,” the source said.