I won’t choose leaders for N/Assembly – Buhari

President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, has again said he will not interfere in the selection process of National Assembly leadership.“There is due process for the selection of leaders of the National Assembly and I will not interfere in that process,” General Buhari said. He dismissed as false, insinuations in the media that he was in support of […]

President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, has again said he will not interfere in the selection process of National Assembly leadership.
“There is due process for the selection of leaders of the National Assembly and I will not interfere in that process,” General Buhari said.
He dismissed as false, insinuations in the media that he was in support of any particular candidate.
“I am prepared to work with any leaders that the House or Senate selects,” General Buhari said in a statement released from his media office.
“It doesn’t matter who the person is or where he or she is from,” the statement signed by Malam Garba Shehu, Director Media & Publicity APC Presidential Campaign said.
He said he did not belonged to any camp and was willing to work with any leader of the National Assembly irrespective of what part of the country he or she originates from.
He said the media speculations were probably based on the way things had happened in the past, but reminded Nigerians that “CHANGE had truly come.”
General Buhari added that the media and the public should begin to get used to no more “business as usual.”
“Nigeria has indeed entered a new dispensation,” he said. “My administration does not intend to repeat the same mistakes made by previous governments.”
Members of the president-elect’s party have become embroiled in a struggle for the top positions in the National Assembly since the party won the general elections.
Five weeks after the elections and barely two weeks to Buhari’s inauguration the impasse over which zone gets what position couldn’t be resolved.
Buhari reportedly told a meeting of the APC stakeholders last month that the party should handle the zoning issue.
Former vice president Atiku Abubakar was said to have said as the president-elect Buhari could not take off his hands over sensitive issues as zoning of National Assembly leadership positions.
However, sources close to the president-elect said Buhari was not interested in delving into the zoning issue preferring that lawmakers be allowed to elect their leaders.
Buhari was said to have told the APC leaders at a meeting Tuesday night that he was ready to work with any one who emerges as senate president or speaker of the House of Representatives.
In the senate, the North-East and North-Central are angling for the position of Senate President with senators Ahmad Lawan (Yobe), Mohammed Ali and Ndume (Borno) in contest.
From the North-Central there are two contenders namely senators Bukola Saraki (Kwara) and Goerge Akume (Benue).
Initially, Akume was being supported by APC national leader Senator Bola Tinubu but the former Lagos state governor was said to have switched over his support to Senator Lawan from Yobe state.
Already 12 South-West senators have at the behest of Tinubu endorsed Lawan in addition to endorsement by some North West senators.
Tinubu is also pushing for his political godson Rep Femi Gbajabiamila to become speaker which explains why he wants the party to zone the speakership to the South-West.
In the House of Representatives the contest is between Rep Yakubu Dogara (Bauchi) and Femi Gbajabiamila (Lagos). While Gbajabiamila enjoys Tinubu’s backing, Dogara is the preferred candidate of Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and all outgoing principal officers of the House.
The North-East had initially tabled request for either the senate presidency or the speakership before the APC.
Our correspondent reports that Buhari’s stance has a lot of  implication on the formation of the leadership of the 8th assembly as members and senators will now be free to choose their own leaders as it happened in 2011 when Tambuwal was elected.