Senate Presidency: Akume Counters Tinubu On Zoning

The major contender and Senate minority leader in duel for the Senate Presidency, Senator George Akume, has disagreed with the pioneer National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Bisi Akande and the party leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, over their declaration on zoning arrangement.

Akume, who spoke with journalists in his home in Abuja Friday evening, argued that the party, before now, had adopted a zoning arrangement which favoured the emergence of the president of the 8th senate, from the North Central, being his geopolitical zone.

He said: “We want the best man to occupy the position. But the trouble is that some people have been talking about zoning and we are asking questions. Is it zoning according to nationality?

“Within the North-Central alone, there are so many nationalities. Is it zoning according to religion? So, we want to be very careful so that we don’t introduce into our system what had not been there before.”

“We want to be careful, otherwise, we won’t be able to produce the best. We are trying to select the best man. We don’t want to entertain what brought the PDP down.”

Recall that, Tinubu, in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Thursday, said zoning will not be used to compromise the quality of leadership for the National Assembly adding that the party will allow all those interested in the leadership of the federal parliament, to contest.

But Akume insisted that zoning was a part of the politics of Nigeria, arguing that Goodluck Jonathan became the President of Nigeria as a result of zoning.

He said: “Even if zoning is not explicitly stated in the Constitution, there is always this letting to understanding that there must be fairness and balance in the occupation of strategic positions. We should not throw away zoning.

“In every zone, there are capable Nigerians that will hold their own in every endeavour. So, basically zoning is acceptable to me because it ensures stability. I have not heard from the party that they have jettisoned zoning.

“I remember, the last meeting we had, there was this issue that it has been zoned to North Central. I do not know it has been taken away because the party has not said they are taking it away but all I want to say is that the party made a comment on it.

“I am a faithful party man. I was part of the team that negotiated the merger of this party and I am also in the privilege position to talk about the dynamism of APC.”

Meanwhile, the ambition of the former Kwara state governor, Bukola Saraki ,to emerge as the successor to the incumbent Senate president, David Mark had received a major boost recently.

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