IN a move seen by many as a plot to cripple the Senate President ambition of his former party member in Kano APC, Senator Barau Jibrin (Kano, North), a chieftain of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in the state, Hon Abdulmumin Jibrin says no good Nigerian, who loves the country will support a northern Muslim to be the next Senate President.
“My personal opinion, if you look at the entire controversy of the Muslim-Muslim ticket, I think anybody that loves this country should not be thinking that the number three man should be a northern Muslim,” he said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme monitored by News Point Nigeria on Wednesday.
“The appropriate thing is that the position should go to a southern Christian. I believe that anybody who wants it the other way round, he loves himself more than the country.”
The All Progressives Congress (APC) won majority of the legislative seats during the elections with over 55 Senate seats out of 109 and over 160 out of 360 House of Representatives seats. Many APC chieftains and legislative member-elect have expressed interest in the highly coveted positions in the red and green chambers. They include Orji Kalu, Jibrin Barau, Godswill Akpabio, Dave Umahi, Ahmad Lawan, Abdulaziz Yari, Osita Izunaso, Ali Ndume, amongst others.
The party produced the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu from the South-West zone and the Vice-President-Elect, Kashim Shettima from the North-East. Before the February 25 presidential poll, the Muslim-Muslim ticket of Tinubu and Shettima caused controversy with many Christians rejecting their candidacy.
Speaking on Wednesday, Jibrin, who is also a member-elect to represent Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency in the 10th National Assembly, said using the 1999 template, the next Senate President should be from the South-East geopolitical zone.
“If you adopt the 1999 template, it means that the Senate Presidency will go to the South-East. I know a lot of people are going to shout: ‘Oh, the South-East are fighting the APC!’
“For goodness sake, once a President emerges, it is fundamentally right for him to assume the status of the President of the country.”
He also said the positions of the Deputy Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives should be zoned to the North-Central and North-West, respectively.
