By Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja
A former Governor of Zamfara State and Senator-elect for Zamfara West, Abdulaziz Yari, declared on Monday in Abuja that he was in the race for the Presidency of the 10th Senate in line with constitutional provisions and not zoning arrangement made by any political party.
Yari who stated this while fielding questions from journalists at the sideline of the induction programme held for Senators and Members-Elect for the 10th National Assembly at the International Conference Centre (ICC), said his aspiration was not an affront against the APC.
The National Working Committee of APC had in giving direction to where the leadership of the 10th National Assembly
will come from, zoned the Presidency of the Senate to South-South in the person of Godswill Akpabio and Deputy President of the Senate to North West in the person of Jibrin Barau.
But eight days after, Yari insisted that he is still in the race as provided for by section 50 (2) of the 1999 Constitution.
He said, “My aspiration for Presidency of the 10th Senate is covered by relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution which to me, is superior to any other law or arrangement.
“I am a loyal party man, nobody has told me that any position has been zoned to anywhere as far as the 10th National Assembly is concerned.
“Position of President of the Senate is first among equals among the 109 Senators. Any Senator-elect who wants to occupy the position must seek the support of others which I am doing.
“It is a hire and fire arrangement. I want them to hire me as President of the 10th Senate on the day of inauguration. Many of those approached by me have given their support and I won’t disappoint them.
“My becoming Senate President on the day of inauguration lies with the decision that will be made by 108 other senators that day and nothing else,” he said.
*Matawale group denies Jaji’s claims of winning Zamfara for Tinubu
Meanwhile, a group loyal to the Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawale, under the aegis of the National Defence Coalition of the All Progressives Congress, has described as untrue, claims by a 10th House of Representatives Speakership aspirant, Aminu Sani Jaji, that he made the victory of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu possible in the state.
The General Secretary of the group, Anas Abdullahi Kaura, who addressed journalists in Abuja yesterday said the victory of Tinubu in Zamfara State, during the presidential election was made possible largely by the heavy support of Matawale, Abdulaziz Yari, and Senator Kabir Marafa.
The group said Jaji’s statement when he visited the national secretariat of the APC to protest the zoning arrangements for the 10th National Assembly leadership positions, was unfortunate.
Kaura said, “We have a personal respect for Aminu Jaji and his ideologies but surprisingly I don’t know what motivated him to go to the extent he has gone.
“His statement when they paid a protest visit to the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Adamu, is ridiculing to his political status.
“For Aminu Sani Jaji to say he was the one that produced the winning votes for Tinubu and Shatima he must know that he is economical with the truth because even someone who is not from Zamfara State will not believe him.
“I believe that his political outlook and that of his supporters may likely be injurious to the unity of the APC in Zamfara.
“His words are targeting the political stars of former Governor Abdul’Aziz Yari and by extension Governor Bello Matawalle.
“Even if I am wrong by the assertion made, for him to face the National Chairman of the APC face-to-face and made such a political outburst is something that will send a very wrong signal to his political sincerity.
“We are opportune to be the North-West Director of Strategic Communication for the Tinubu and Shettima presidential campaign.
“I worked very closely with Governor Bello Matawalle as the North-West Presidential Campaign Coordinator and I can explain vividly and in clear terms who played what role and at what point, to the emergence of Senator Bola Ahmad Tinubu both at the Zonal level and at the level of Zamfara as a state.
“We cannot count the number of political engagements we had with Governor Bello Matawalle both in Kaduna where the zonal campaign office is situated as well as the rest of the states in the geopolitical zones.
“In all these series of engagements which majority of which I initiated with the political support groups as well as active political pieces of machinery within the zone there was never a single day when Jaji attended these engagements or participated in them.
“The investment made by Governor Bello Matawalle was visibly testified even when the President-elect came to open the North-West Zonal campaign office in Kaduna.
“This commitment was extended beyond Kaduna because Governor Bello Matawalle opened more than fifteen of these campaign offices of Tinubu/Shettima across all the seven states of the zones and provided 100 per cent funding for the campaign activities.
“In Gusau here I am sure there is no state in Nigeria not even in Lagos that has a befitting campaign office similar to that of any of the three offices in Zamfara. The one along the Gusau-Sokoto bye-pass road, the one at Lalan, and that one adjacent to Gusau Hotel.
“We are also privy to the volume of funds Matawalle had invested in supporting different campaign activities because, in all the eighteen directorates established under the North-West campaign structure, we received our funding directly from Governor Matawalle.
“My directorate of strategic communication which dealt with the media management received 100 per cent funding from the Governor and in every state of the North-West where Tinubu campaign train crosses, Matawalle is investing funds to ensure the smooth campaign for the APC presidential and vice presidential candidate.
“If Hon. Aminu Jaji will be claimed he has secured votes that produced Tinubu in Zamfara State, the blanket question for him is using which political structure and platform?
“He has never for once attended our strategic meetings at the Zonal level even though he claimed to be the Director of Contact and mobilization and he has never participated for once in the several ones we have done at the state level,” Kaura added.
