An elected member of the House of Representatives under the platform of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in Kano, Abdulmumin Jibrin has said that a Northern Muslim should not be elected as the next Senate President of Nigeria.
The lawmaker elected to represent Kano State’s Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency stated this during a live programme with Channel TV on Wednesday night, explaining that the Muslim-Muslim ticket used by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to secure their victory in the February 25, 2023 election requires that another person of Muslim faith should not be allowed to occupy the third highest political position in Nigeria.
He said, “Anybody that loves this country should not be thinking that the number three man should be a Northern Muslim.
“The appropriate thing, correct thing to do is that that position should go to a southern Christian. And I believe that anybody who wants it the other way round loves himself more than the country.”
The lawmaker, therefore, suggested that the next Senate President should be from the South-East, the Deputy Senate President should be from North-Central, and the Speaker can go to the North-West.
According to him, the arrangement will promote unity in the country and foster integration.
Meanwhile, it was reported that lobbying for the key positions in Nigeria’s 10th National Assembly had begun in earnest, with parties and senators-elect working to avoid a repeat of the 2015 experience, in which Senator Bukola Saraki was elected Senate President.
When Saraki was elected as Senate President, a majority of the APC senators, including the party’s preferred candidate, Ahmed Lawan, were in a meeting with the APC leadership and President Muhammadu Buhari.
Senators-elect Ali Ndume (Borno South), Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Orji Uzoh Kalu (Abia), Jibrin Barau (Kano), and Mohammed Sani Musa (Niger) are among those who have expressed interest in becoming the President of the 10th Senate.
