The vice president-elect, Kashim Shettima, has said that the choice of Godswill Akpabio as the preferred candidate for senate president of the 10th National Assembly by the president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the APC National Working Committee (NWC) is to stabilise the polity.
Shettima disclosed this while addressing some senators-elect who are members of the Stability Group rooting for the emergence of Akpabio and Barau as senate president and deputy respectively at his campaign office in Abuja on Tuesday night.
He said, “The president-elect and the vice-president-elect are both Muslims. It is in the interest of the stability and unity of this country that the next position be given to the Christian faith, if not, it would further validate the alleged Islamisation agenda of the APC-led administration.
“It would be perceived as a gratuitous insult to our Christian brothers and sisters who stuck out their necks to support us.
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“That was why I was quite pleased with the choice of the party leadership that my uncommon brother and leader in the person of Senator Godswill Akpabio should be the number three citizen of this country.
“The stability of this nation is much more important than whatever political considerations we may think of. We need to have a stable and united nation before we can talk about politics and positions. This is what our leader could do to unite this country in the current circumstances.”
Shettima noted that Akpabio had the exposure, competence, and experience to occupy the office of the senate president, ditto Barau, deputy.
He further said, “Apart from the need for religious balancing, competence, and experience also came into play in our choices.”
Shettima pledged to reach out to APC senators-elect who were yet to come on board with the choices of the party.
63 members-elect back Abbas, Kalu for speaker, dep
Meanwhile, the spokesperson of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) and member-elect for Ideato North South Federal Constituency, Ikenga Ugochinyere, and 62 other members-elect from various opposition parties have endorsed the All Progressives Congress (APC) consensus candidates, Tajudeen Abbas and Benjamin Kalu, for speaker and deputy speaker of the incoming 10th National Assembly.
Addressing a press conference yesterday in Abuja, the members-elect said they were supporting Abbas and Kalu because of their integrity and competence to preside over the affairs of the house.
Ugochinyere who spoke on behalf of the 62 other members-elect, appealed to other aspirants to withdraw from the race, saying it was time for national development, growth, and stability and not time for party politics.
By Abdullateef Salau & Balarabe Alkassim
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