By Sunday Isuwa, Abuja
Following the declaration of interest of the Niger East Senator Mohammed Sani Musa to contest for the office of the Senate President in the 10th Assembly, newly elected lawmakers and associates have declared that he will be the dark horse if the position is zoned to the North Central.
Some of the newly elected lawmakers who collected their certificate of return on Wednesday declared that Sani Musa has paid his dues.
It was gathered that Senators from the North Central Zone are also insisting that Sani Musa, who will protect the interest of the zone and that of the Nigerian people, is supported to be the next Senate President.
The associates of the Senator and his colleagues who spoke to our reporter on condition of anonymity said the Niger East Lawmaker has gathered the needed experience to lead.
One of the sources, a former member of the House of Representatives, explained that the senator, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Senate Services, would declare his ambition whenever the All Progressives Congress (APC) zones the various presiding and principal offices.
He expressed the hope that the APC would zone the Senate Presidency to the North Central geopolitical zone.
Another source also disclosed that the National Chairman of the party, Senator Adamu Abdullahi, will not work against zoning the Senate Presidency to the North Central zone.
He said Abdullahi would not also mind to do anything that will promote the emergence of a President of the Senate from the North Central geo- political zone and by extension paving the way for Musa’s emergence.
He said, “Once the office is zoned to North Central Senator Musa will run for the office of the Senate President. We hope and pray that the All Progressives Congress would zone the office to the North Central zone because the zone has proven to be an APC stronghold, especially Niger State that gave the highest votes in the zone.”
He said, “Senator Abdullahi Adamu will be interested in the emergence of Sani Musa as the next Senate President and he would not mind sacrificing his appointment to make that happen.”
On possible clash of Musa’s ambition with that of the incumbent Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, being his friend and leader, the source said, “Lawan and Musa are from different zones hence no clash of interest if the party comes out with a zoning formula.”
He said, “As we speak, I do not think Senator Lawan is going to contest the office of the Senate President in the 10th National Assembly.”
Asked what would happen if the party failed to zone the office to the North Central zone, the source said, “Senator Musa would contest for the position of the Deputy Senate President if zoned.
“He is already talking to his colleagues and close associates about his ambition,” the source added.
Musa has joined other contestants like Senators Orji Uzor Kalu, Godswill Akpabio, Barau Jibrin, Abdulaziz Yari, David Umahi and Adams Oshiomhole, who are all said to be eyeing the top position.
Musa, is unarguably the most popular senator in the 9th Assembly because of the importance of his committee to his colleagues, majority of whom he interacts with, virtually on a daily basis.
He is popularly known as 313 among his colleagues, narrowly missing being the National Chairman of the APC before President Buhari and other leaders of the party appealed to the aspirants to step down for Senator Adamu Abdullahi.
Investigations by our correspondent revealed that Musa was the favoured candidate of Asiwaju Tinubu for the APC National Chairmanship then.
The fact that the Niger East senator supported the Senate President during the race for the Party’s presidential ticket did not taint the relationship between him and Tinubu.
Those who are very close to Musa argued that the billionaire entrepreneur played significant roles in the eventual emergence of the ‘Jagaban Borgu’ as president-elect.
