…As Yari accuses Tinubu of taking unilateral decisions
Some aggrieved aspirants for the seat of Senate President of the 10th National Assembly, on Thursday, stormed the National Secretariat of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja to present a joint petition to the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).
The team included a former Governor of Zamfara State, Senator Abdul Aziz Yari; who won election to represent Zamfara West; the Senator representing Niger East, Sani Musa and a former Governor of Abia State and Senate Chief Whip, Orji Uzor Kalu.
The complainants said the party’s former National Organising Secretary Osita Izunaso, who won last February National Assembly election to represent Imo West, was part of the team but unavoidably absent.
The senators, who addressed the APC National Working Committee led by Senator Abdullahi Adamu, expressed the disaffection of their respective geo-political zones.
Senator Yari, who was the first to speak, accused the APC NWC of failure to seize the initiative, but leaving the President- elect, Bola Tinubu, to take unilateral position on critical party matters.
Yari specifically argued that the North, which gave the highest number of votes to Tinubu, is about to be marginalized, warning of dire consequences: the North could withdraw its support for the President-elect before 2027 general elections.
He said: “We are here to present our letter of grievances to you and also tell this honourable house as a leader that we are not satisfied with the arrangement and what we are expecting from you People is to give us fair play.
“Mr. Chairman, we know each and every success came from God. Mr. Chairman, we from this axis, we strongly believe that we have done our best despite the whole challenges. Everyone has done his best but we are number one. One other thing about people from the North is that they believe Buhari was a messiah. That was why they came blindly and picked us without any condition or in regard to anything but despite the fact that many things have happened along the line; they maintain the relationship, they maintain the love and they have not given excuses. In 2019, they came out and elected him again.
“The President-elect got 63.4 percent of the votes from the North. Where he came from the south he got 36.6 percent. Atiku Abubakar from Northern Nigeria got 68.8 percent of the total vote and he got from Southern Nigeria 33.2 percent. So, now if there is anyone who can say we own APC; we own the President-elect, it is Northern Nigeria.
“Without undermining any part of the country, they have given their best and we can understand their situation but justice needs to be done. We should not be blinded that the power of anyone is absolute but only God is absolute. We should not look at these four years as 20 years and then we are going into another election. So, whatever decision you are going to take, we are expecting you as a friend that works with the President-elect to tell him not to go there. We don’t need rocket science to explain why you can defend what you are trying to do for the betterment of the APC, and for the betterment of the president.”