Former governor of Zamfara state, Abdulaziz Yari, has commenced moves to ensure he emerges the next Senate President, despite the endorsement of Senator Godswill Akpabio by his party – All Progressives Congress (APC).
Yari, 55, says he will contest the position, noting that the party cannot interfere in legislative elections.
He also dismissed suggestions that president-elect Bola Tinubu had endorsed Akpabo, saying the incoming Nigerian leader cannot dictate for lawmakers.
“What is going to happen that day, it is going to happen based on the instructions of the constitution and not for anyone,” he told journalists in Abuja.
A source in the APC had told a national newspaper that “efforts to get the former governor of Zamfara state to step down yielded no results.”
The former Zamfara governor also has the requisite experience to be the Senate President as he represented Anka/Talata Mafara Federal Constituency from 2007 to 2011 in the House of Representatives.
To make his aspirations come true, Yari has consulted widely with other senators, especially those from the opposition.
He was in Yengaoa, Bayelsa, on Saturday, May 6, to meet with the governor of Sokoto state and senator-elect for Sokoto South Senatorial District, Aminu Tambuwal.
Tambuwal, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, has been touted to emerge as the Minority Leader of the 10th Senate.
Some of Tambuwal’s associates also say he can emerge as the Deputy Senate President, provided aggrieved APC members are prepared to align with him.
Photos from Yenagoa showed Yari in a meeting with Tambuwal, alongside Senator Francis Fadahunsi, representing Osun East Senatorial District, and senator-elect representing Ondo South, Jimoh Ibrahim.
Others are Senator Hassan Lawal Anka; Zamfara West, Senator Shehu Bubu; Bauchi South, and Senator Ned Nwoko, Delta North.
Yari had also met with a former governor of Edo state and former national chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.
Oshiomhole, the senator-elect for Edo North, is said to oppose the emergence of Akpabio as the next Senate President.
