- Says he’s ready to sacrifice ambition
From Fred Itua, Abuja
One of the contenders for the position of the Senate Presidency, Sani Musa, has expressed his willingness to sacrifice his ambition in the interest of unity and peaceful coexistence of Nigeria.
Musa who represents Niger East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, stated this when he appeared on Morning Show, aired by the Arise News Channel.
He, however, said the only condition that could make him consider the position of the Deputy Senate President is if a competent Christian aspirant who is running for the office of Senate President convinces him to step down, with genuine reasons.
He described Nigeria as a secular nation and stressed the need to ensure a balance between the two main religions in the country.
He noted that the tension that heralded the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate and his running mate, should be avoided in the race for the Senate Presidency.
In the current arrangement, The national chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu; the President-Elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; and the Vice President-Elect, Kashim Shettima, are Muslims. The Chief Justice of Nigeria is also a Muslim.
Musa said: “For the exigencies of our time, looking at the volatile situation of what has generated the Muslim-Muslim ticket in this country, I am one person that believes in the secularity of one Nigeria.
“I am one person that believes that, for every reason, there should be given and taken in this country.
“We have lived with both Christians and Muslims. Some of us still have relatives that are still Christians and Muslims.
“We have lived in a society where there’s intermarriage; we have lived for so long.
Our forefathers envisaged a country where we would all live together.
“I will not have any problem seeing a qualified, competent personality like me in the Senate who has also presented himself for the office of the Senate President and asked me please to drop my ambition for him; I will do it.
“There is a position of Deputy Senate President, which also is a presiding officer in the National Assembly. I will be willing to do it if it’s going to be in the best interest of Nigerians and if it’s going to be in the best interest of the zone I am going to represent.
“There’s no commitment or sacrifice too much to make to keep the unity this country deserves.”
The Chairman, Committee on Senate Services, however, said the fact that the national chairman of the APC, Adamu is from the same geopolitical zone as he does not affect his emergence as a Presiding Officer of the red chamber.
He said also his personal relationship with the incumbent President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, could not affect his aspiration if the Yobe Senator decided to seek a second term in office.
Musa said: “My aspiration has nothing to do with my personal relationship with anybody in the Senate. I am here to represent my constituency. By virtue of my aspiration, I am to represent the North Central.
“My relationship with the Senat President is a respected one. I respect him and I will continue to respect him.
“He has led the National Assembly and he did very well. If the Senate President is zoned to the North Central, he will support me because I am also supporting his as the current Senate President.”
On the national chairman being from North Central, the senator said: “The zoning arrangements in the National Assembly has nothing to do with the APC Constitution. It also has nothing to do with the Nigerian constitution. It is a gentleman’s agreement.”
Musa went down memory lane to recall various times that the North Central had produced the Senate President and the National Chairman at the same time.
The senator said the North Central deserves the position of the Senate President in the 10th National Assembly because the geopolitical zone contributed immensely to the emergence of Tinubu with its massive votes.
Musa also said he remains as qualified as any of the aspirants for the position of Senate President because he is a bridge builder, a technologically experienced and well-exposed federal lawmaker.
He justified the reason behind his introduction of the social media bill but noted that it was not meant to gag freedom of speech.
He said: “In an environment like Nigeria and with what we have been seeing, we need to regulate our social media space. It is not by gagging.
“I have never proposed any bill to gag freedom of speech. The bill is meant to regulate social media usage by spelling out the red lines that should not be crossed.”