President Tinubu Backs Christian Senate President As Betara And Gagdi Step Down

The Presidency provided an explanation for its choice to support a Christian for Senate President on Sunday.

Having produced Muslims for both the President and the Vice President, it was claimed that Nigeria could not currently afford to have a Muslim serve as Senate President.

Vice-President Kashim Shettima remarked that the party came up with the consensus ticket of Senator GodsWill Akpabio as Senate President and Jibrin Barau as Deputy in the interest of the stability of the nation when he made these remarks at a dinner with lawmakers from different parties on Saturday night in Abuja.

Shettima made this statement when Aliyu Betara and Yusuf Gagdi, two candidates for Speaker of the House of Representatives, were said to have resigned.

Explaining the position of President Bola Tinubu, the Vice-President  said Nigeria could not afford to have a Muslim as a Senate President since both the President and VP are Muslims, stressing that the President of the Senate should be a Christian.

The PUNCH had reported the uproar over the same faith presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress which featured Tinubu and Shettima in the run-up to the February 25 presidential poll.

Having won the election, parliamentarians and other stakeholders had been clamouring for the balance of power and inclusivity, insisting that a Christian must be included in the nation’s top power hierarchy.

In response to this, the APC’s National Working Committee zoned the Senate President to the South-South and nominated Akpabio, a Christian, as the preferred candidate and Senator Jibrin Barau from North-West for Deputy Senate President.

Similarly, the party nominated Tajudeen Abbas (Kaduna/North-West) for Speaker; and Benjamin Kalu (Abia/South-East) for Deputy Speaker.

However, some aspirants for the Senate Presidency and the Speaker have continued to insist on contesting for the positions in open defiance of the zoning arrangement announced by the ruling party in early May.

The recalcitrant contestants including Senators Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara West), Orji Kalu ( Abia North) and Osita Izunaso ( Imo West), and Sani Musa from Niger State, said they would not step down for the party’s consensus aspirants for the two senate leadership positions.

But validating the zoning arrangement at the dinner, the Vice President attributed the APC’s decision to President Tinubu’s administration’s desire to foster inclusivity in the interest of the nation.

Senator Shettima said, “Here we are with a Muslim president and a Muslim vice president in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious polity like ours. I was a child of circumstance.

“Equity, justice, and fairness demand that the number three citizen of this country should be of the Christian faith. What binds us together supersedes whatever divides us. But most importantly, we should make deliberate efforts to take inclusivity in governance.”

Shettima further appealed to the lawmakers to consider the interest of the country above that of their pockets.

He said, “This is a young nation where every community will like to have fair representation on the dinner table of their kinsmen.

“Politics is about perception, politics is about optics. I want to appeal to you, I want to appeal to your conscience. There is stability and inclusivity and togetherness in this nation that supersedes the depth of our pockets, stability of our pockets.

“Under the current dispensation, the worst, the most incompetent southern Christian is better than the most puritanical northern Muslim for the presidency of the Senate. We are talking about the sustainability of the nation; the nation is at a crossroads.”

The Vice President submitted that some parts of the country felt excluded from the previous administration as the president, senate president, speaker and others were of the Muslim faith, adding it would be wrong to have a repeat of such a situation in the current government.

He said, “Number one, two, three, four, and five all from the same faith for God’s sake, we can’t do that. I am ready to kneel and beg my colleagues in the Senate for the sake of the nation. This is for the survival of this nation. I am even going to talk to a senator tonight just for the sake of this nation.”

The consensus candidate of the party, Senator Akpabio noted that the lawmakers were willing to work for the stability of the country.

Akpabio said, “Vice President, sir, we have committed ourselves to your administration alongside President Bola Tinubu to ensure the stability of Nigeria.”

In his comment, Senator Barau reiterated the president’s commitment to the progress, unity, and stability of the country.

He assured that the 10th Assembly would commit itself to the values of unity and peaceful co-existence of the nation.

The Director-General of the Stability group, Senator Ali Ndume, noted that the group was assured of votes from 80 lawmakers but currently has assurance from 73 senators.

Meanwhile, Emeka Nwala, the Chief Press Secretary to Senator Kalu, noted that Yari and Kalu were still in the race and not backing down.

In the same vein, the media consultant to Senator Izunaso, Kehinde Olaosebikan, noted that his boss couldn’t back down in the last days, especially knowing that he is the best man for the job.

He said, “We have not stepped down and we are not stepping down. Sen Izunaso is the best among them, he will win. Nigeria deserves the best. It’s about service to Nigeria.