Senate leadership should be on merit, group tells lawmakers

The members of the incoming Senate have been advised to elect their leadership based on merit and competence, the Advocacy Group for Senator Danjuma Goje has said.

They said the elected lawmakers of the 9th assembly of the Senate should not allow themselves into being coerced into making the wrong choice of the Senate president.

“We are deeply worried by the way the honorable members of the red chamber are constantly being reminded to vote along party lines ditching the democratic value of free choice which is the exclusive right of the senators themselves,” the group secretary, Musa Ibrahim said in a statement.

He said a critical look at those eyeing the Senate presidency will reveal Senator Goje as “the only candidate that is eminently qualified for the job. He was a minister and governor for eight years, before becoming a senator.”

“As a governor of Gombe State, by all standards, Goje can be described as the father of the modern Gombe State. His achievements speak for him in all nook and cranny of the state,” the statement said.

The statement said the senator’s “prudence and leadership style earned him the appointment as chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation. This is a responsibility that is only giving to trusted and financially disciplined personalities.”