APC chieftain, Bashiru outlines criteria for electing new Senate President, others

Senate Spokesperson and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ajibola Bashiru has revealed criteria to be taken in consideration for election of the next Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday, Bashiru explained that factors such as ranking, competence, capacity, religion and zoning will determine how the 10^th National Assembly principal officers will be elected.

This was disclosed by the Senate Spokesperson, Ajibola Bashiru, while speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday.

He said, “I believe that our party will ultimately take a decision on the zoning possibly after Ramadan and certainly before June when the next Assembly will be convened.”

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“It will be in the best interest of our party to zone the offices so that we can narrow the number of contestants because when you have eight persons from a single political party contesting, it creates a problem for us to have a cohesive force going into the election,” he added.

The APC won a majority of the legislative seats during the elections with over 55 Senate seats out of 109 and over 160 out of 360 House of Representatives seats.

Bashiru said any of the Senators-elect are competent to be presiding officers over the National Assembly.

He, however, said the APC National Working Committee (NWC) and the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) has not taken any decision yet on which of the six geopolitical zones will produce the next Senate President.

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He said, “I’m not aware that the NWC of our party has taken a position on the issue of zoning and where the zoning will be done.

“I’m not aware that the NEC of our party has taken any decision but party leaders will be making a lot of permutations to ensure a seamless relationship between the executive and the legislative arms.

“The leadership of the party as well as the members of the 10th Assembly will have to look at so many variables.

“For instance, arguments may be canvassed like the religious argument that the President is a Muslim, the Vice-President is a Muslim, will it not be reasonable to have a Christian as the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives and you cannot wish away such argument particularly when you see the divisive nature that politics has taken in recent time in Nigeria.

“You may also look at the North-West (geopolitical zone) which has produced the bulk of the votes by which we won the Presidency. Will you discountenance their contribution?”