Three aggrieved All Progressives Congress (APC) senators have petitioned the party over the adoption of consensus candidates for the Senate Presidency of the 10th National Assembly.

The senators included Abdulaziz Yari (APC-Zamfara), Sani Musa (APC-Niger), and Orji Uzor Kalu (APC-Abia)

The APC had nominated the immediate past Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, from the South-South geopolitical zone as the President of the 10th Senate, while a senator from Kano State (North-West), Barau Jibrin, was picked as the Deputy Senate President.

Presenting their grievances during the visit to the party’s secretariat in Abuja on Thursday, May 11, Yari, said the fourth senator, Osita Izunaso, couldn’t join the group on the visit due to unforeseen circumstances.

He said: “We are here to present our letter of grievances to you and also tell this honourable house as leaders, that we are not satisfied with the arrangement.

“What we are expecting from you people is to give us a fair play, at least if nothing, to mention that a particular position is zoned and anybody in that zone can’t participate.”

Yari stated that the senators had done their best to ensure that the party remained in power and deserved to be carried along in its decisions.

Yari added that politics was all about dialogue and communication, saying all sides should be given a fair hearing.

Responding, the APC National Chairman, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, said the zoning of the Senate Presidency was done in concert with stakeholders and some senators.

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Adamu, while welcoming the lawmakers, expressed satisfaction with their visit and decision to come open with their grievance.

“As chairman of the APC and members of the NWC, we take responsibility; I take responsibility for what has gone on air, and in that spirit, I welcome you to this office on behalf of my colleagues.

“Yes there was no sufficient or adequate consultations with you who are contesting and it is simple principle of democracy that you get views and opinions.

“But the circumstances that we found ourselves in after the elections frustrated our desire,” Adamu said, adding that the party’s leadership would revisit the issue in the interest of all the members.

While appealing to the lawmakers to be calm, the APC National Chairman said the contribution of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, was however critical on the issue of the 10th National Assembly.

“Hold the fire until the last word is heard from us, we are the custodians of the party as NWC, but we are not acting alone.

“The voice of Tinubu, the President-elect, is an essential voice. We must accommodate him the best we can. I will not compromise on that.

“He is right now outside the country and by the grace of God when he comes back we will go back to the drawing board and put our heads together again and see what we will get.

“I cannot preempt that; I will wait until we hold that meeting with the President-elect,” Adamu said.

He assured the lawmakers that the party’s leadership would go through their memo with a view to addressing issues contained in it.

“Whatever you heard is the art of human endeavour and we are not perfect as human beings. We can make mistakes.

“So, if we find in the course of further consultations the mistakes that need to be looked at, we will look at them. The important thing is that the spirit of the party must be kept alive.

“Our eyes must stay on the ball but in doing so we must make sure justice will be done, we will do our best as human beings to deliver justice to all and sundry,” Adamu added.

The Star