Youths of the All Progressives Congress (APC) under the auspices of the APC Youths Solidarity Network has urged the leadership of the party and the Presidency to throw open the position of the President of the Senate to all elected Senators from the North East geopolitical zone in the interest of equity justice and fair play.
Addressing a news conference in Abuja yesterday, the group said the party must take concrete steps to avoid the mistakes of 2015, alleging that anointing the Senate Leader, Senator Ahmed Lawan as the Senate President will not augur well for the party.
They alleged that Senator Lawan is currently hobnobbing with members of the opposition, Peoples Democratic Party, promising the positions in the 9th senate, adding that while they believe that he has the right to aspire for the seat, the Senators should be allowed to choose their leaders.
Spokesman of the youths, Shuaibu Usman claimed that as stakeholders in the Nigerian project and having worked for the success of the party, they believe that President Muhammadu Buhari deserves a national assembly that will not sabotage his second term in office.
He said:”It is worthy of note, that, after the 2019 General Elections through which Nigerians overwhelmingly elected President Muhammadu Buhari, we are faced with another round of National Elections which will see the emergence of the both Chambers of the National Assembly leadership, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“As loyal party men who worked tirelessly for the victory of our party at various levels, we are stakeholders of the Nigerian project hence it will become unpatriotic if we fail to strengthen our Party, the APC in preparation for service delivery for the poor and average Nigerians.
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“We have learnt our lessons from the 8th National Assembly which saw the ‘Pull Him Down Syndrome’ of the President Muhammadu Buhari by the Nigeria Senate after the collaboration with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in installing the said leadership of the National Assembly and wish not to allow such happen in the 9th Senate which promises hope in collaborating with President Muhammadu Buhari for National development.
“Today, one of the contenders for the office of the Senate President, an APC member, Senator Ahmed Lawan has commenced visitation of PDP governors mostly at night to seal deals with the opposition Party in order to gain their favour. The meeting is to persuade PDP Senators to support the candidacy of Lawan.
“It is a clear statement that, all the PDP governors Ahmed Lawan had visited, pleading for them to prevail on their Senators-elect have also demanded the deputy Senate President’s slot for the PDP which Lawan agreed. He has also commissioned some PDP senators to lobby for him as he is ready to cede the deputy Senate President’s seat and other choice Committee chairmen of the Senate to the opposition.
“We make bold to say that, while most APC young leaders fault our National Chairman’s statement endorsing Ahmed Lawan as a preferred candidate for Senate President, we stand by the Chairman trying to convince other members of our great party. But Senator Lawan has clearly betrayed the Party and Mr President for his alliance with the PDP in a desperate move to lead the Nation as President of the Senate.
“This we consider as a deliberate decision to destabilise President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration which he may not be aware of. The alliance has gone far and any mistake made towards the selection of the leadership of the National Assembly, the Party, Mr President and Nigerians will be dragged backward. Every Nigerian knows the mindset of the PDP Governors towards President Muhammadu Buhari because of his stance against corruption.
“We call on President Muhammadu Buhari, the National Leader, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and party faithfuls to immediately come to the aid of the APC members and shop for a candidate without PDP connection ahead of the June inauguration of the National Assembly”.
