President Bola Tinubu has urged All Progressives Congress, APC, Senators-elect to abide by the zoning arrangements as announced by the party’s National Working Committee, NWC, last month in advance of the June 13 inauguration of the 10th National Assembly.
The APC has zoned the Senate President to the South-South, with Senator Godswill Akpabio as the preferred candidate and Senator Jibrin Barau from the North-West as the Deputy Senate President.
According to sources, Tinubu made a passionate appeal to the over 43 incoming senators of the APC, led by Senator Akpabio, at the Aso Rock Villa late on Wednesday night. He emphasized that it is the right thing to do in support of the party’s zoning arrangement.
“At this point of our history and challenges facing us as a new administration, all hands must be on deck to salvage the unpalatable situation facing the nation.
“We must see the situation as a pan-Nigerian project for the executive and the legislature to work out solutions to the challenges of the nation,” he stressed.
The President said the task ahead to finding solutions to the myriads of national problems cannot come from the executive arm of government alone, but from jointly working together of the executive and the legislature.
He added that the senators-elect present at the meeting should reach out and pass the appeal to others unavoidably absent to toe the party line and put a leash on all personal ambition in favour of party programme and national interest.
“Talk to your colleagues that are not here to tow the party line and give the Renewed Hope agenda a chance to succeed. The elephant is big enough for all members and indeed Nigerians to have a share of the Renewed Hope in due course,” he admonished.
Earlier on at the meeting which ended around 11pm, Senator Akpabio congratulated the President on his successful inauguration and stated that since the party announced the zoning arrangements for the leadership of the National Assembly, majority of the party’s senators-elect, led by him and Senator Barau, had reached out in consultation to other senators-elect, including those from the opposition political parties with positive result and pledge of support.
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