BUHARI REFUSED TO INTERVENE IN THE SENATE PRESIDENCY ZONNING

Gen. Muhammadu Buhari has refused to intervene in the
ongoing intrigues surrounding the election of the senate president
and speaker in the incoming administration, TheCable has learnt.
This development has unsettled many of the leaders of the All
Progressives Congress (APC) who believe that he has to put his
feet on the ground to forestall the looming crisis in the party.
But Buhari, according to insiders, does not want to get involved in
national assembly politics because he does not want to be seen as
an interloper.
“My sense is that Buhari does not want to be called a dictator
because that was the tag his opponents have put on him since he
started bidding for presidency in 2003,” one of his associates told
TheCable.
“Over the years, the unfortunate characterisation of Buhari has
mellowed him down and you can now see him doing things he
normally would not do.”
His position, TheCable understands, is that he is ready to work with
whoever is elected as the senate president as well as the speaker.
Buhari also did not push any candidate for the chairmanship of the
party at the convention last year, with Bola Tinubu, former governor
of Lagos state, playing the key role in the election of the national
executive.
APC is yet to take a final decision on the zoning of some positions,
especially the senate presidency which now a source of tussle
between the north-central and the north-east.
The speakership was initially supposed to have been zoned to the
north-east before south-west came into the picture.
The battle for the senate presidency is now appearing to be a two-
way battle between Bukola Saraki (Kwara) from the north-central
and Ahmed Lawan (Yobe) from the north-east.
Speakership, if zoned to the south-west, will most likely throw up
Femi Gbajabiamila (Lagos), who is currently the minority leader, but
Abdulmumin Jibril (Kano) from the north-west is also showing
interest.
The source, who spoke with TheCable, said Buhari has never been a
fan of intra-party intrigues and he will allow APC leadership to take
the lead in resolving the zoning and candidacy issues.
The party is holding a series of meetings to finalise the sharing of
the positions in the national assembly.
 source:www.thecable