Ali Ndume, the senator representing Borno South, said on Thursday ex-Governor Abdulaziz Yari does not have the capacity to be the next Senate president.
He stated Mr Yari’s only qualification for running for Senate presidency on June 13 is because the ex-governor has plenty of money to spend, which he described as “disgusting.”
Mr Ndume stated this during a meeting with a non-serving senators group from the second to fourth republics in Abuja, where the former senators reiterated their support for Godswill Akpabio to be president of the 10th Senate.
Mr Akpabio, a senator-elect for Akwa Ibom North-West, is one of the leading aspirants contesting the senate presidency in the 10th National Assembly.
“For someone like Yari to put a price on me and others and the fact that you hear that Yari is giving out money and you should consider doing that… That is the most disgusting thing… Please, We are senators of the federal republic,” Mr Ndume said.
The politician added, “I have nothing personal against Yari, and I was his senior at the House of Representatives, and I was his leader because he (Yari) was in the minority. I have said several times that Yari doesn’t have the capacity, and he knows for himself; his only qualification is that he has money. And I must say that the Senators are not for sale.”
The APC’s National Working Committee has zoned the seat to the South-South, anointing Mr Akpabio to be the next Senate president and Barau Jibrin (APC-Kano) as his deputy.
The Gazette reported last month that 72 former senators who identified as non-serving senators of the second to fourth republics endorsed Messrs Akpabio and Jibrin as president.
However, ex-Governor Uzor Kalu, Mr Yari, Osita Izunaso and others have kicked against the Akpabio-Jibrin ticket.
“If it is about the money, we could ask people like Dangote and Rabiu to come to preside over the Senate because they are not only rich in Nigeria but in Africa. It is beyond that,” Mr Ndume asserted.
Ex-Governor Olusegun Osoba urged the non-serving senators to return to their constituencies and ensure the emergence of Mr Akpabio as the Senate president.
“Let us go back to our states and lobby our senators-elect to support the choice of the party. With this, I believe we shall achieve our goal without any hitch,” Mr Osoba stated.
Tanko Yakasai, an elder statesman and rights activist, also urged old and new senators to work together to safeguard the country’s unity.
