Ohanaeze, Elders Council Rally Support For Tinubu, Back Umahi For Senate President
•Demand Government of National Unity •Ask Obi to Explore All Legal Options to Prove he Won Poll •Urge Senate to Set Aside Ranking Rule
The Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, and its Elders Council comprising leaders from seven states as well as the organisation's 22 affiliate bodies have declared support for the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, even as they have resolved to back the aspiration of the Ebonyi State governor and senator-elect, Dave Umahi, for the position of the Senate President.
The battle for the leadership of the 10th National Assembly has since started in earnest, coming just a week after the members-elect collected their Certificates of Return from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja.
Towards this end, the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday met with the newly-elected Senators and House of Representatives members - of the party at the Presidential Villa obviously to avoid a repeat of the crisis that trailed the election of National Assembly officers in 2015, following President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory.
Although no communiqué was issued at the end of the meeting, which had the party’s National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu in attendance alongside the National Secretary, Iyiola Omisore and Vice President–elect, Kashim Shettima, who represented the President – elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, there were indications that the party hierarchy wanted to tread softly on the issue of picking a preferred candidate in order to avoid any preinauguration crisis at the National Assembly.
President-elect Tinubu said at the meeting that he had no preferred candidate for the office of Senate President, but feelers from the meeting indicate that four of the six geo-political zones are ready to struggle for the position. The four zones are the South-East, the South-South, North-Central and North-West. It was also gathered that many senators from the four zones have intensified lobbying for the position.
POSITIONS OF THE FOUR ZONES
THEWILL checks show that one of the key factors flaunted by the competing senators is individual electoral contribution to Tinubu’s emergence as president-elect. According to dependable party sources, by the same token, the South-West and North-East, both of which produced the President and the Vice President, respectively, are not being considered for the position.
HOW THE CONTENDING ZONES STAND ELECTORALLY
Except for Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi and Sokoto States in the North-West zone, which Tinubu lost to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s Atiku Abubakar by a slim margin, but got