Northern coalition backs Akpabio for Senate presidency, Arewa journalists endorse Umahi

A coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the North has urged the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to zone the Senate presidency of the incoming 10th National Assembly to the southern minorities for national development. Chairman of the coalition, Mallam Danjuma Muhammad, and the secretary, Hon. Adeyeye Olugbenga, made the call at a press […]

A coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the North has urged the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to zone the Senate presidency of the incoming 10th National Assembly to the southern minorities for national development.

Chairman of the coalition, Mallam Danjuma Muhammad, and the secretary, Hon. Adeyeye Olugbenga, made the call at a press briefing yesterday in Abuja.

They also called for support for a former Akwa Ibom State governor, Senator Godswill Akpabio, to emerge as the Senate president.

Muhammad who spoke on behalf of the group said after a lengthy deliberation by its members, they decided to endorse Akpabio, the immediate past Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, due to his competence and integrity.

“The National Assembly being the engine room of democratic governance requires a man of positive action and uncommon leadership ability, like Senator Godswill Akpabio as its chairman,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Arewa Journalists Forum (AJF) is lobbying the northern elders and senators-elect from the region to back zoning the next Senate presidency to the southeastern part of the country.

Addressing a press conference yesterday in Abuja, the chairman and secretary of the group, Hassan Galadima, and Abraham Sule respectively, said the new Senate president should come from the South East in the interest of national cohesion.

Sule who read the communique of the meeting of the forum said the best candidate from that region, not minding the Senate rules on ranking, should be the next Senate president.