Buhari ‘Will Not Intervene’ In Choice Of Senate President, Speaker

Muhammadu Buhari

President-elect Muhammadu Buhari has refused to intervene in the ongoing intrigues surrounding the election of the senate president and speaker in the incoming administration, TheCable has learnt.

This development has unsettled many of the leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who believe that he has to put his feet on the ground to forestall the looming crisis in the party.

But Buhari, according to insiders, does not want to get involved in national assembly politics because he does not want to be seen as an interloper.

“My sense is that Buhari does not want to be called a dictator because that was the tag his opponents have put on him since he started bidding for presidency in 2003,” one of his associates told TheCable.

“Over the years, the unfortunate characterization of Buhari has mellowed him down and you can now see him doing things he normally would not do.”

His position, TheCable understands, is that he is ready to work with whoever is elected as the senate president as well as the speaker.

Buhari also did not push any candidate for the chairmanship of the party at the convention last year, with Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos state, playing the key role in the election of the national executive.

APC is yet to take a final decision on the zoning of some positions, especially the senate presidency which now a source of tussle between the north-central and the north-east.

The speakership was initially supposed to have been zoned to the north-east before south-west came into the picture.

The battle for the senate presidency is now appearing to be a two-way battle between Bukola Saraki (Kwara) from the north-central and Ahmed Lawan (Yobe) from the north-east.

Speakership, if zoned to the south-west, will most likely throw up Femi Gbajabiamila (Lagos), who is currently the minority leader, but Abdulmumin Jibril (Kano) from the north-west is also showing interest.

The source, who spoke with TheCable, said Buhari has never been a fan of intra-party intrigues and he will allow APC leadership to take the lead in resolving the zoning and candidacy issues.

The party is holding a series of meetings to finalize the sharing of the positions in the national assembly.