It looks like Senator George Akume may emerge the preferred candidate for the office of Senate President ahead of Senator Bukola Saraki.
As the leadership of the APC continues to brainstorm on the zoning of offices in the executive and legislative arms of government, top contender for the senate presidency, Senator Akume, at the weekend intensified his consultations.
The Senator, who has adopted a quiet, discreet and unobtrusive approach in his quest for the exalted position since he was listed as a potential holder, hit the road on what a close confidant described as a ‘strategic cross-country diplomatic shuttle.’
Akume, who was in the South-West last week, met prominent national figures and respected political bulwarks. Notable among them were Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, APC National Leader, Bola Tinubu and former Osun State governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola.
The former Benue State governor who is returning to the Senate for the third time, met the leaders in their respective domains in Abeokuta, Lagos and Okuku, respectively.
Akume served as Benue State Governor, concurrently when Obasanjo was President and both men maintained a good relationship until the end of their tenures in 2007, despite Obasanjo’s brushes with Akume’s kinsmen like Dr Iyorchia Ayu, who was Minister in the Obasanjo government and Senator Barnabas Gemade, who succeeded the late Chief Solomon Lar as PDP National Chairman.
While Akume served in Benue, Tinubu was Governor of Lagos, both of them belonging to the ‘Governors’ Class of 1999 to 2007.’
Oyinlola succeeded Chief Bisi Akande, former Interim Chairman of the APC as Osun State governor on the platform of the PDP in 2003, but all three men have since found common grounds in the progressives’ camp.
While there was no official communication after each of the meetings, the interactions may not be unconnected with the topical issue of the Senate Presidency.
Akume has also had several engagements with former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, who may likely emerge as Chairman of the APC Board of Trustees. Akume was governor when the highest Tiv honorary traditional title, ‘Zege Mule U’Tiv’ was conferred on Atiku.
Akume’s backstage consultations have also taken him to see Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, who has also been elected Senator to represent Kano State, Prof Ango Abdullahi, Vice-Chancellor Emeritus of the Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, former Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Coomasie and former Kogi State Governor, Abubakar Audu.
Sources in Akume’s camp will not readily draw a link between his recent travels and the issue of the Senate Presidency. As one of his aides volunteered, however, ”Senator Akume is a very highly regarded statesman in his own right. Consultations with like-minded leaders on issues bothering on our socio-politics should be a routine affair.”
Pressed further, the source said: ‘If the APC is truly about change, that change should reflect in the way we do things, so we send a very strong message to all Nigerians that they can be assured of a sense of belonging irrespective of where they come from. We have produced a President-Elect from a majority ethnicity, we have produced a Vice-President-Elect from another majority ethnic group, APC must be sensitive to the sensitivities of the minorities, across both divides of the Niger.’
