The Coalition of Northern Group (CNG), kick against the All Progressives Congress (APC) adoption of the former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio and a member of House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, as the next Senate President and Speaker of the House of the Green Chamber, respectively.
CNG warned the All Progressives Congress (APC) against thrusting Senator Godswill Akpabio and Tajudee Abbas as preferred candidates for the position of the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, in the 10th Assembly.
CNG Spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, stated this in Abuja, on Wednesday, during a press conference, cautioned the President-elect against the antics of vested personal interests like those represented by El-Rufai and Ganduje.
Recalled that, the APC National Working Committee (NWC), had adopted Akpabio (South-south) and Barau Jibrin (North-west) for the senate president and deputy senate president respectively.
Suleiman said: “To emphatically call on the leadership of the APC to reclaim its statesmanship by immediately reversing the decision on Akpabio and Abbas, and setting the stage for the emergence of a credible National Assembly leadership through democratic elections by its members as enshrined in our Constitution.
“To call the attention of the incoming President to watch his back and guard against entrenched Judases who are bent on pitching him against democracy, against popular national will and against such regions as the North, that made massive sacrifices to keep the nation united and push it past a critical turning point by working to ensure his victory at the February presidential poll.
“To specifically caution the President-elect against the antics of vested personal interests like those represented by El-Rufai and Ganduje. To warn that if this and any similar arrangements are allowed to pass through, the North as a whole would be deliberately shortchanged by stripping it of the three main democratic influences; the executive, the legislature and the Judiciary which would be absolutely unacceptable as it is unjustifiable.
“To encourage all other aspirants for any position in the National Assembly to disregard this purported, undemocratic arrangement and insist on the emergence of their leadership through acceptable, constitutionally recognized democratic election.”
He further said that Senator Abdul-Aziz Yari, who at present assumes the symbol of Northern aspiration to the Senate presidency, that he would lose respect and relevance if he submits to the temptation to quit the race for any undemocratic arrangement other than elections.
He urge all aspirants to the position of the House Representatives Speaker, such as Betara, Wase, Doguwa and the rest from all sections of the country to insist on a transparent and democratic emergence of leaders of the House.
“We renew our commitment to engaging all leaders and fellow Nigerians as we have always done as northerners to form a coalition to reclaim, restore and protect the sanctity of our hard earned democracy.
“The CNG also notes the involvement of such Northern collaborators as Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state and Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano in this diabolic scheme that potentially threatens to pitch the president-elect against other sections of the country, in particular the North, from where he extracted the bulk of his winning votes.
“We note that this damaging attempt at producing the next National Assembly leadership through an endorsement process that had turned all accepted indices of our national demography on their heads, is one that was clearly aimed at achieving dubious political goals; one clearly designed to stain the clean democratic credentials of the incoming President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and weaken the political potentiality of Northern Nigeria.”
