Abdulaziz Yari says he remains in the race for election as president of the 10th Senate
The senator-elect for Zamfara West, Abdulaziz Yari, says he will not withdraw from the race for the Senate presidency as the All Progressives Congress (APC) has not told him it has zoned the position to another part of the country.
Mr Yari stated this on Monday while speaking with journalists at an induction programme organised for senators and members-elect for the 10th National Assembly at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.
The National Working Committee of the APC recently nominated a former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, for Senate President and the senator representing Kano North, Barau Jibrin, as the Deputy Senate President.
But many other aspirants, including Mr Yari, have rejected the nominations and questioned the zoning formula on which they are based.
The vice president-elect, Kashim Shettima, on Friday, said the nominations were made to ensure religious balance in the political leadership of the country.
But Mr Yari, a former governor of Zamfara, insisted that he would contest for the position based on the constitution's requirements.
"My aspiration for the 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," he said.
"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."
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Mr Yari said some senators-elect had endorsed him for the position, and he is not ready to disappoint them.
"Any senator-elect who wants to occupy the position, must seek the support of others, which I am doing," he said.
"It is a hire and fire arrangement. I want them to hire me as president of the 10th Senate on the inauguration day. Many of those approached by me have given their support, and I won't disappoint them," he noted.
"My becoming Senate President on the day of inauguration lies with a decision that will be made by 108 other senators that day and nothing else."
Also speaking in a separate interaction with journalists, the senator-elect for Zamfara North, Sahabi Ya'u, said he is unaware of the party's nomination for the leadership of the 10th Senate.
"I read about the zoning arrangement in the papers like other people. Nobody has discussed such a plan with us, and in any case, senators-elect are the ones to decide who they want as president or deputy president."
