Nigerians in the Diaspora have advocated for the emergence of Sen. Godswill Akpabio as Senate President of the 10th National Assembly.
The incumbent President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, and some of the senators-elect, like Orji Uzor Kalu, Barau Bibrin, Godswill Akpabio, Adams Oshiomhole, Abdul-Aziz Yari and Dave Umahi, had reportedly started subtle campaigns among their colleagues.
Interestingly, the choice of the next senate president would largely depend on the zoning of the office, among other principal offices, by the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Although, expectations are high that the party leadership may zone the office of the number three citizen to the South-east, as part of moves to pacify the Igbo, having missed out from the presidential contest in all the parties at a time the clamour for a president of South-east extraction was high, even though, it’s just speculative.
But if those considerations sail through, the current Senate Chief Whip and former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu, has the brightest chance, as a ranking senator with cognate experience from that part of the country in APC
However, The News Agency of Nigeria reported that Nigerians under the aegis of the Presidential Support Committee Diaspora chapter in a statement on Tuesday, said they had unanimously adopted Akpabio as their preferred choice.
The Chairman of the group, Gbenga Durojaiye, said they believed that politics is a collective responsibility of the people. He then enjoined political leaders in the National Assembly to vote for a leader with sterling political credentials.
He said, “Having a competent and an experienced Senate president will engender speedy resolutions of bills and issues affecting all Nigerians home and abroad.”
The Secretary General of the group, Yomi Awosemo, said that the same level of awareness, support and solidarity given to the candidacy of the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, would be deployed to ensure that Akpabio emerged Senate President.
The Board of Trustees’ Chairman of the group, Yisa Ogundeji, said that the national assembly, as the ‘eyes and ears’ of Nigerians, required experienced and competent leaders to manage its affairs.
He said that he believed that a Senate of the National Assembly, headed by Akpabio, would complement the Tinubu-led executive arm of government.
The Publicity Secretary of the group, Mariam Onigbanjo, called on all the members of PSC to remain focused and resolute in ensuring that competent and experienced leadership was entrenched in all spheres of governance in Nigeria.
Onigbanjo said that members of PSC in the Diaspora were made up of well-meaning Nigerians across various political party affiliations that identified with the candidacy of Asiwaju during the last presidential election.
She said that they provided sufficient awareness, support and solidarity for the emergence of Tinubu as the president-elect.