Senate: North-Central leaders drum up support for Akume

A group of North-Central leaders under the aegis of Leaders of Thought from the North-Central Zone has urged senators-elect from other zones interested in the Senate Presidency to shelve such an ambition.

Spokesman for the group, Alhaji Mohammed Gwaska, made the appeal at a media briefing in Abuja, on Monday.

Gwaska led the group made up of former Deputy Governor of Plateau State, Mrs. Pauline Tallen, Senator Jack Tilley Gyado, former military administrators of Katsina and Plateau states, Maj. Gen. Laurence Onoja (retd.) and Col. Joseph Akaagerger (retd.), among others, to the briefing.

He said the appeal to others to shelve their ambitions in favour of Senator George Akume was premised on the need to ensure justice and fair play in the 8th National Assembly.

Gwaska said, “We want to appeal to all Nigerians from other parts of the country to suspend their ambition as this is not their time.

“We also advise all leaders who want stability to support Senator Akume. We are not unmindful of the fact that during the 7th session of the senate, our zone had the opportunity to occupy this position. However, the political exigencies of today have again invited the senate to invoke the Doctrine of Necessity, which makes it most desirable for this position to be retained by our zone.”

According to the group, the issue of the doctrine would not have come up if there was a ranking All Progressives Congress, senator from the South-East or South-South geo-political zone.

It, however, noted that since the two zones were unable to produce a senator during the last election, it was only fair for minorities to be given a sense of belonging and a voice in the scheme of things in the incoming administration.

The group argued that since the President-elect is from the North-West, and the Chief Justice of Nigeria is from the North-East, the remaining arm of government, the legislature should be headed by someone from the North-Central zone.

This, they argued, would help to ensure stability because it was only the right thing to do.

Gwaska also said that Akume qualified for the position because of his steadfastness and commitment to the cause of the opposition in which he led in the senate for four years.