We did not endorse Kalu for Senate Presidency – ACF

Reports that a former Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu has been endorsed as the preferred candidate for the office of Senate President of the 10^th National Assembly by the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has been denied by the foremost northern group.

A member of the forum, Alhaji Musa Saidu, made the denial in as statement in Abuja on Monday.

Saidu, who was reacting to a statement credited to Alhaji Yerima Shettima, the leader of the Arewa Youth Conservative Forum (AYCF), claiming that the ACF had endorsed Kalu for the position, said: “I want to say without fear of contradiction, that the ACF has no youth wing and there was no time that we sat to make Shettima the AYCF leader.

“The whole thing is false.

“The ACF has not endorsed Kalu as the next Senate President, because we have our own ways of doing things.

“It is shocking to hear Shettima asking Sen. Abdulaziz Yari to step down for Kalu in the race for Senate Presidency.”

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Saidu, who is also the leader of the Arewa Community in Southern Nigeria, said that the ACF would have preferred that the position be zoned to the North because of its contribution to the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the Feb. 25 election.

“The North contributed the highest votes for Tinubu in the presidential election, so we cant just endorse candidates from other zones for the Senate Presidency.

“How can we work for Tinubu to become president and then turnaround to start campaigning for other zones to become Senate President.

“Infact the Vice-President slot given to the North is just like a spare tyre, everybody in Nigeria knows that the position has no much value.

“Since the North West gave Tinubu the highest votes, then it should be given the Senate Presidency, the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives is too small for the zone,” Saidu he said.

He further stated that “It is a payback time for the North, so it should be given the Senate Presidency of the 10th National Assembly.

“For fairness and justice, the North should be considered for the Senate Presidency and Sen. Abdulaziz Yari should be endorsed for the position.”