Ahead of the June 13 inauguration of the 10th Senate, a group, South-South Youth Assembly, on Friday called on senators and senators-elect to support the ambition of a former Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, to lead the upper chamber.
It also urged lawmakers from the zone to reject former Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio, who angling for the top job.
The group in a statement signed by its President, Emmanuel Nkpubre, urged the lawmakers to shun sectionalism, regionalism, and ethnicity and “focus on developing the nation”.
The statement read in part, “The South-South Youth Assembly notes that since the nation transmuted to democracy, the South-South, South-East, and North-Central had occupied the position, except the North-West, which over time has contributed majority votes.
“From the Independent National Electoral Commission’s record, the North-West contributed the majority votes that helped Ahmed Bola Tinubu to win the presidency.”
Justifying its support for the former governor, the group said the time had come “to look inward for somebody, who could deliver what had been lacking in the country.
It added, “It was through (former) President Musa Yar’Adua and the help of (former President) Olusegun Obasanjo that the zone was able to get the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. We have the hope that Yari will fight for us to get what we want.
“It was also through these two presidents that the region was able to get the Niger Delta Development Commission. When Joseph Wayas was the President of the Senate, the region didn’t benefit from anything, same thing with (former) President Goodluck Jonathan. All the gains that the region made came from outsiders.”
