VP-Elect Shettima Weighs Options For Senate President, Akpabio Emerges As Contender

• Kashim Shettima is holding brief for President-elect Tinubu and meeting with stakeholders over the leadership of the 10th National Assembly.

• There is a silent battle between the geopolitical zones in the country over the sharing of leadership positions, with pressure being mounted on Shettima to back a candidate from the North-West for Senate President.

• Shettima is considering Akpabio as a contender for the Senate Presidency, while he navigates the political terrain to shore up his support base.

EKO HOT BLOG reports that Vice President-elect, Senator Kashim Shettima, who is currently holding brief for President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is reportedly meeting with stakeholders over the leadership of the 10th National Assembly.

Tinubu jetted out of the country immediately after the March 18 gubernatorial election to rest in France after the grueling electioneering campaigns.

But since his absence, there has been a silent battle between geopolitical zones in the country over the sharing of leadership positions in the soon-to-be-inaugurated 10th National Assembly.

According to reports, pressure is being mounted on Shettima to back a candidate from the North-West for Senate President to shore up his support base in the region.

Sources told Saturday Telegraph that the former Borno State governor has been holding a series of meetings on behalf of Tinubu.

Abdulaziz Yari and Jibrin Barau, both from the North-West, have declared their intention to contest for the Senate Presidency.

The source, however, stated that “It is not clear which one of them has the support of Shettima, but he is not openly opposing any of them for fear of political backlash.

“All I know is that the Vice President-elect is giving his tacit support for the emergence of a Senate President from the North West. He is doing so for two reasons, one to shore up his support base and two trying, not to be seen as working against Northern interests by stakeholders in the North. You know the way things work here.”

The source added that the decision on who to back isn’t at the instance of Shettima but that he is only playing safe so as not to be seen as working against the tide.

Another highly placed APC chieftain who pleaded anonymity disclosed that the Vice President-elect is actually disposed to having a former Akwa Ibom State Governor, Senator Godswill Akpabio, as Senate President and Senator Sani Musa from Niger State as Deputy Senate President.

“Senator Shettima has been standing in for his boss. He has been representing his boss at a series of meetings and consultations with groups and relevant stakeholders in the country. I think he is doing that in consultation with his boss, who I know receives briefings from him from time to time,” the source said.

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