By Ahmed Jubrin
A coalition of associations in the North East states has called on the leadership of All Progressives Congress (APC) to allow senators from the region to choose the candidate for the President of the 9th Senate.
Mr. Bashir Maigari, the spokesman of the coalition known as Amalgamated Youth Forum and North East Consultative Forum, made the appeal at a meeting in Bauchi on Wednesday.
He said since the party had zoned the Senate Presidency to the North East, the Senators and other APC stakeholders should be allowed to select a consensus candidate.
“Although it was a wise decision for the party to zone the major leadership positions to the various geo-political zones in the country to avoid rancour and competition, it will be better to allow internal democracy to work,” he said.
Maigari said that the party leadership was creating opposition or anti party activities by anointing a sole candidate, adding that if all the senators belonged to the party they should be allowed to choose among themselves who should be there leader.
He pointed out that imposition of candidate violated democratic rules and tenets of political parties.
According to him, all the senators from the North East region are qualified and have all requisite experience to lead the 9th Senate.
The group however called on Senator Danjuma Goje to contest for the Senate Presidency because of his competence.
It further said that Goje did much as a former minister, a governor, and now a serving Senator.
Also, Abdulmalik Sulaiman from Gombe State said that as an indigene of the state, he could attest the various development projects carried out by Goje when he was the state governor.
He pointed out that some of his major achievements included the establishment of Gombe State University, which he said, contributed a lot to the development of tertiary education in the state.
