Tinube,Akume meet in Lagos over Senate presidency

firstclassnewsline.net

Firstclass newsline learnt that at the meeting which took place
around 3pm, Tinubu told Akume to shelve his ambition and support
Senator Ahmed Lawan, who represents Yobe-North senatorial district in
the 8th Senate.
The race for the Senate presidency was between the North-East and the
North-Central. Akume, who is currently the Senate Minority Leader,
represents Benue-North senatorial district in the Senate.
Senator Bukola Saraki, who represents Kwara-Central senatorial
district in the North-Central geopolitical zone, had also openly
expressed his intention to contest the number three seat in the
country.
It was learnt that the leadership of the APC finally decided to zone
the Senate presidency to the North-East following 'fresh
developments'.
A crdible source in the APC told our correspondent that Lawan had
already been backed by the current Senate President, David Mark, and
other members of the Peoples Democratic Party.
He said, "Tinubu explained to Akume that Lawan and Senator Mark are
very close and already, some members of the PDP support him. Lawan has
a good track record in the Senate and has been backed by almost all
the senators in the North-East who feel the zone has been seriously
marginalised.
"The catch there is that if the APC members in the Senate do not
support Lawan and he wins the Senate presidency with bloc votes from
the PDP and his friends in the North-East, he will be loyal to the PDP
and may sideline us just as the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, attributed his victory to the APC
back in 2011 even though he was a member of the PDP.
"Mark will definitely do everything possible to ensure that Akume does
not emerge Senate President if we pick Akume because they are not on
good terms. Tinubu told Akume that he sacrificed his presidential
ambition for the sake of the party.
"Tinubu, therefore, urged Akume to settle for the Deputy Senate
presidency or Senate Majority Leader."
The 8th Senate will have 60 APC members while the PDP will have 48.
The number of senators in the North-East is 18.
The source said Akume was also asked to step down because the
North-Central, where he hails from, had been holding the Senate
presidency since 2007 while the North-East had never presided over the
upper chamber of the National Assembly since independence.
He added that giving the North-East the seat would also be a way of
rewarding them for giving the APC the second highest number of votes
during the presidential election.
He said, "The current Senate president is from Benue State and has
been in charge for eight years. Would it be fair to also handover the
Senate presidency to another person from Benue?
"The President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, got more than 2.5 million
votes from the North-East and this should be rewarded."
It was learnt that Lawan, who just won a third term in office, had
already been accepted by those close to the President-elect because he
was among those who led Buhari's presidential campaign in the then All
Nigeria Peoples Party in 2007 in Yobe State.
The source told firstclass newsline crew that a committee comprising
Tinubu's wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu; Senator Babafemi Ojudu, Senator
Gbenga Ashafa and Senator Ajayi Boroffice had been set up to meet with
the angry parties.
Firstclassnewsline.net