A prominent Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), Alhaji Mohammed Murtala, who says he is a die-hard loyalist of President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has criticised some northerners for canvassing for a candidate from the South-East geo-political zone of Nigeria to occupy the Senate Presidency in the forthcoming 10th Assembly. Excerpts:
Que: As a prominent member of the APC, what are your views on the current jostling for the leadership positions in the forthcoming 10th Assembly?
Ans: First of all, our position is that the North, and specifically the North-West geo-political zone deserves to lead the Upper Chamber in the forthcoming 10th Assembly, considering the fact that the North-West geo-political zone gave the highest vote, at over 2.8 million – which represents about 32% of the total votes cast for the Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election, which resulted in the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President-Elect.
We wonder why, considering the fact that the South-East geo-political zone of Nigeria were only able to cast just over 127, 000 votes for the APC in their region, and only voted for their own candidate, who hails from their region, why should the Party even consider to zone the Senate Presidency to that zone, instead of the one that did the major work for the
President-Elect.
Que: Don’t you think your station is misplaced, given the fact that in the House of Representatives there is also a clamour for a candidate for its Speaker to come from the North-West?
Ans: Politics is a game of numbers, it is about votes, about number of votes cast by the majority of the people. The North-West region have proven our mettle, by having the largest number of people, of voters who cast their votes for the Party, and therefore, deserve a fair hearing and as a befitting reward for our hard work. We should not be taken for granted. It is neither about any battle of fight. However, if the Party ignores, or fails to heed the North-West’s agitation for the Senate President’s position, then the teeming voters who sacrificed all they had for the Party and fought to ensure the emergence of presidential election, which resulted in the emergence of Bola Tinubu would only blame us, as leaders, who directed them to vote for the Party’s candidate. It will be a wrong move that would send a wrong signal to the teeming voters from the region, who would remember that they were abandoned by their party after all their effort.
Let’s not forget that the North, and particularly the North-West, heeded the calls by the leaders of the party to come out en masse to vote for our candidate, and they did, leading to the success at the polls, and therefore, there is no reason whatsoever for the region to be denied the Senate Presidency position.
Que: Don’t you think your station is misplaced, given the fact that in the House of Representatives there is also a clamour for a candidate for its Speaker to come from the North-West?
Ans: That is precisely why we are demanding such fairness. For a region that has produced the majority of votes for a party and its candidate, it demands nothing short of equity and fairness in its demands.
Politics is all about give and take; it is about representation. If the APC denies the region its rightful demand for the Senate Presidency, then it should have itself to blame. Because the next time, we come to tell our constituents to come out and vote for any candidate, they would also simply ignore us; and therefore we cannot agree or subscribe to any unjust choice by the Party.
If our Party, however, listens to the voice of reason and accedes to the demands by the North-West, then there is no reason why in the next political dispensation the massive voters from the region would not do so, and promised that the region could double the number of votes for their candidates in future elections.
