Senate presidency: Yari meets Buhari, asks APC to reward performance — not religion

Abdul’Aziz Yari, former governor of Zamfara state, says the incoming senate president deserves to come from the northern part of Nigeria.

Speaking on Sunday in a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, Yari said the north provided the majority votes to ensure the All Progressives Congress (APC) clinched victory in the February 25 presidential election.

The senator-elect asked the APC to reward performance and not buy into the sentiments of religion or ethnicity when zoning key offices in the 10th national assembly.

“I’m advising the party, that they should reward performance, not religion. Because religion is not in the constitution of Nigeria, and it is not in our manifesto and our constitution,” Yari said.

“Everyone knows the role that we played, despite the fact that other people are thinking we have our own. But we voted on the party line which gave the APC leeway to grab the presidency again.

“Therefore, we’re saying the party should do the right thing. And those that are going around saying ‘Muslim-Christian’ should be very careful. Our education in politics is more than that now.”

Yari further said that selecting leaders based on their religion would “annoy people in northern Nigeria that did the real voting” and cause them to lose confidence in the APC.

The former governor asked the ruling party to proceed cautiously with its next move, saying the party no longer has the support it once did.

“The 10th assembly is entirely distinct from the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth assemblies. Any party with a majority often holds that position with two thirds of the vote. But our situation is very different,” Yari said.

“Why? Because in the house of representatives, I told him (the president) that the minority are having the higher number there. They have 182, while our party has 178. In the senate where we used to have like 65, 70, we now have 59 and the opposition has 50.

“In taking decision of the party, they have to put these into consideration and look at how it’s going to be done. Because in the end of the whole exercise, whatever happens, we believe strongly that election must hold in both chambers.”