The Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, has denied endorsing former Abia governor, Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu, as its preferred candidate for Senate President of the Tenth National Assembly.
This was stated by Alhaji Musa Saidu, a member of the forum, in a statement issued on Monday in Abuja.
Saidu was responding to a statement credited to Alhaji Yerima Shettima, leader of the Arewa Youth Conservative Forum, claiming that the ACF had endorsed Kalu for the position.
“I want to say without fear of contradiction, that the ACF has no youth wing and there was no time that we sat to make Shettima the AYCF leader.
“The whole thing is false.
“The ACF has not endorsed Kalu as the next Senate President, because we have our own ways of doing things.
“It is shocking to hear Shettima asking Sen. Abdulaziz Yari to step down for Kalu in the race for Senate Presidency,” he said.
Saidu, also the leader of the Arewa Community in Southern Nigeria, said that the ACF would have preferred that the position be zoned to the North because of its contribution to the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the Feb. 25 election.
“The North contributed the highest votes for Tinubu in the presidential election, so we can’t just endorse candidates from other zones for the Senate Presidency.
“How can we work for Tinubu to become president and then turn around to start campaigning for other zones to become Senate President.
“In fact the Vice-President slot given to the North is just like a spare tyre, everybody in Nigeria knows that the position has no much value.
“Since the North West gave Tinubu the highest votes, then it should be given the Senate Presidency, the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives is too small for the zone,” he said.
Saidu added: ”It is a payback time for the North, so it should be given the Senate Presidency of the 10th National Assembly.
“For fairness and justice, the North should be considered for the Senate Presidency and Sen. Abdulaziz Yari should be endorsed for the position.”
