Senate presidency: Lawan, Akume emerge APC’s candidates

Kunle Awosiyan |

Senators Ahmad Lawan and George Akume have emerged as the APC candidates for the position of senate president and deputy president respectively.

This took place in the primaries conducted by the party on Saturday night in which both candidates polled 32 out of the 33 votes cast by the members.

However, loyalists of Senator Bukola Saraki, a key contestant for the position boycotted the mock election on the ground that the process was undemocratic, saying it was a mere imposition by the party leadership.

The process of the mock election began with Senate Barnabas Gemade who nominated Senator Ahmad Lawan from Yobe North for Senate President and he was seconded by Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Lagaos Central, while Senator Robert Ajayi Boroface nominated Senator George Akume for Deputy Senate President and he was seconded by Senator Sani Shehu.

At the end of voting, 32 voted for Lawan for Senate President out of 33, while 32 also voted for Akume for Deputy out of 33.

Commenting, the National Chairman of the Party, Chief Oyegun commended the people for their patience and assured that he would ensure that internal democracy is institutionalized.

“Having adopted Lawan as the sole candidate, the party will always be with him and in constant consultations with the APC members in the National Assembly.

In his acceptance speech, Senator Lawan said what happened was history in the making, stating that change has come to Nigeria as the party’s NWC painstakingly conducted the process and the procedure for bringing out the candidates for the principal officers.

He said, “I want to thank the NWC for giving all of us the opportunity to aspire, and the process has been very transparent.

“This is not a victory to Unity Forum, we need to bring together the APC Senators elect and the APC senators in the chamber. The change will not be meaningful with a divided house. We will make sure that we bring our members on the other side. We also want the NWC to come in. “We will not let you down, we will at all times, try to be firm and just. We need to reach out to our PDP colleagues. I want to see a senate that is massively stable and work in consensus for the good of the country. We want a senate that will be bi-partisan in approach,” he said.