Firebrand Abdul Ningi best as Senate minority leader – Yakubu

The chairman, Media Dialogue Communication Limited, Amb Joseph Tanimu Yakubu, has called on senators-elect on the platforms of opposition political parties to elect a former deputy majority leader of the Senate, Abdul Ningi, as the minority leader of the 10th Assembly.

Yakubu, who made the call in an interview with Blueprint Weekend, said the vibrancy, charisma and legislative exposure of the Bauchi-born politician “will be an asset to the legislative organ if he emerges a principal officer when the National Assembly convenes on June 13, 2023.”

Yakubu noted that the 10th National Assembly needs a vibrant opposition leader who would be the rallying point for debates on critical national issues.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a crafty politician, and the National Assembly requires an equally crafty opposition to put national discourse in nationalistic equilibrium. We, as Nigerians, don’t need a ‘yes man’ for such a sensitive position.

“I have Senator Mingo’s trajectory as a no nonsense politician, and he doesn’t compromise. Besides, he has all the arsenals and anti ballistic missiles to stabilise the polity. We need him,” he said.

Yakubu, who slammed two senators-elect who defected to the APC last week, advised lawmakers not to compromise political culture for the pecks of political office.

 “It’s unimaginable to rise on the platform of a political party and to dump it for another, simply because that party is the one in power. I urge the present crop of lawmakers to quickly amend the Electoral Act by inserting into that, if you’re voted into power under a political party platform, you must not vacate it and still hold your position. If you dump your party, you then stand to lose your seat too,” he asserted.