10th Senate: Tussle for Presidency Grows As South-south Group Rejects Akpabio, Declares Candidate

Ahead of the June 13 inauguration of the 10th Senate, the South-South Youth Assembly on Friday called on senators to settle for former Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari.

The group also urged lawmakers from the zone to reject former Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio, for the position and support Yari’s aspiration.

The group in a statement signed by its President, Emmanuel Nkpubre urged Nigerians, particularly the lawmakers to shun sectionalism, regionalism, ethnicity and “focus on developing the nation.”

The statement read in part, “The South-South Youth Assembly notes that since the nation transmuted to democracy, the South-South, South-Ea, st and North-Central had occupied the position, except the North West, which overtime had contributed majority votes.

“From the Independent National Electoral Commission’s record, the North-West contributed the majority votes that helped Ahmed Bola Tinubu to win the presidency.”

Justifying its support for the former governor, the group said the time has come “to look inward for somebody, canto deliver what has been lacking in the country.

“Yari is capable and will partner with the president-elect to help the region to fight for resource control.

“Yari will partner with the president-elect to fight for us to have the resource control we have been beeclamoringng for. Over time our people have not helped us; it is outsiders that have helped us.

“It was through President Musa Yar’Adua and the help of Olusegun Obasanjo that the zone was able to get the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. We have the hope that Abdulaziz Yari will fight for us to get what we want.

“It was also through these two presidents that the region was able to get the Niger Delta Development Commission. When Joseph Wayas was the President of the Senate, the region didn’t benefit anything, same thing with President Goodluck Jonathan. His government was not beneficial to South-South. All the gains that the region made came from outsiders.

“We charge the senator representing us to vote massively for Abdulaziz Yari for Senate presidency and we want to warn that any of them who vote for Godswill Akpabio will not benefit anything from the youths from this region.

“We don’t want to send somebody there that will disgrace us. We don’t want to send somebody who will not listen to us. This is not the time to play on our intelligence. This is the time to build this country and look capable people,” the statement read in part.

PUNCH