By Usman Ibn A. Lapai
Kaduna
As the scheming for the leadership of the National Assembly thickens, a northern-students group, Amalgamated Northern Nigerian Students Forum (ANNSF), has advised the APC leadership to zone the Senate Presidency to the north-east zone.
The students’ forum gave the advice through its president, Comrade Yahaya Ayuba, in a press conference held at Arewa House, Kaduna.
He said though it was not certain where the senate presidency would be zoned to, but the speculations that the north-central and the north east are top contenders for the position, informed this advice.
He added that, if the speculations are true, then, the north-east should be favoured ahead of the north-central who had held the senate presidency for about eight years of the 16 years of the present democratic rule, with the current Senate President, Senator David Mark hailed from the north central, zoning the plumed job to the region now would make it look like an hereditary position for the region.
Ayuba argued that the north-east zone had been marginalised for too long and also neglected in their troubles these past years and that “it is only natural for the sake of justice to zone the position to the region.”
Ayuba added that as students and youth that actively participated in the process that brought in the in-coming government; they would not stand and watch while undeserved persons who do not match the credibility of the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, clinched the Senate Presidency.
Consequently, the group with representatives from all the 19 northern states, however, endorsed Senator Ahmed Lawal, a Senator from Yobe state, for the Senate Presidency based on what they described as his “clean records and sound moral standing” with his track records of quality leadership, which he has displayed in his previous stewardship in the national assembly.
He said: “Now should the directives of the president-elect be respected, then out of the top contenders for the senate Presidency in the North-central and North-east, senator Ahmed Lawal is the only person that has clean record as he does not have any corruption cases on his neck.”
Yahaya further revealed that Lawal was elected in 1999 as member of the House of Representatives and after eight years in the lower chamber in 2007.”
