Senate Presidency: APC Former Governor Ignores Tinubu, Refuses To Step Down For Akpabio
A former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, is presently on a collision course with former minister and former Akwa Ibom State governor, Godswill Akpabio over the Senate Presidency of the yet-to-be-inaugurated 10th National Assembly.
Sources revealed that against the persuasion of the “president-elect” Bola Tinubu who is said to be foisting Akpabio’s choice on the Red Chambers, Yari has refused to step down, signalling a fresh crisis among the senators and senators-elect, particularly under the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Akpabio and Yari are among the nine contenders for the Senate presidency of the 10th assembly which is expected to be inaugurated on June 13, 2023.
Another source revealed that one of the front runners, Senator Ali Ndume, was asked by the “president-elect” to drop his ambition and support the Akpabio/Barau ticket, which he reportedly obliged.
The source said that “The President-elect summoned Ndume and asked him to step down for Akpabio in the interest of national cohesion, fairness and religious balancing which he obliged.
“He also insisted that Ndume should be in the frontline to deliver Akpabio as the next Senate president. That’s how we started collecting signatures. Efforts to get the former governor of Zamfara State to step down failed.”
