Many a follower of the happenings in the nation’s political process would agree that the major crux at the moment is the determination of the next occupier of the seat of the Senate President.

Having concluded the 2015 general elections which has produced the next set of players in the executive and legislative arms of government, the onus now lies on the two arms to carefully and without undue bias, determine the ascendant of the nation’s third position in a manner that would engender fair play and equity to guarantee the smooth running of legislative duties at the upper legislative chamber.

Without an expected duel of wits between the two major political parties comprising the National Assembly and a tendency of cross carpeting by aggrieved members, one can be sure that the All Progressives’ Congress stands tall to determine who the next Senate President would be.

Based on the assumption that the usual process which appreciates the majority should favour the incoming administration of the APC to produce the next Senate President because the incoming 8th National Assembly would comprise 64 APC members and 45 PDP counterparts, the two major contenders for the position that hail from the North Central geopolitical zone are the former two-term governors of Benue and Kwara States who presently are returning Senators, in the persons of George Akume and BUKOLA SARAKI.

The candidature of Akume and SARAKI were effected by the strong probability that the upper chamber’s leadership would be zoned to the North Central geopolitical zone comprising Kwara, Kogi, Benue, Plateau, Niger and Nassarawa States.

An interplay of a number of factors, if perceived as crucial and adequately considered, should place Kwara State in a favourable position to clinch the exalted office because they are open and readable facts which authenticity could be easily evaluated.

These factors which I consider germane are serially contained in the subsequent delivery.

First: The political party that is set to take over power come 29th May, this year, that is the APC, had its origin through a number of politicians referred to as the Legacy Group, with a later complimentary inclusion of another referred to as the Equity Group. The former was composed of the initial and original set of politicians that formed the APC, parading former members of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change(CPC), the All Nigeria Peoples’ Party(ANPP) and a few others from less formidable arms while the latter comprised mainly the later defecting former PDP governors, National Assembly members and other new party faithfuls. It is imperative to appreciate, at this juncture, that there would not have been much ado by the Legacy

Group towards strengthening the newly constituted opposition party and ultimately clinching power if not for the level of aggressiveness and painstaking by the later incoming of the Equity Group to which SARAKI belonged. This does not imply that the Legacy Group failed to draw sustainable motions to ensure its success in its mission to

take over power! A compound of fairness should encourage the emergence of the Senate President from the Equity Group, especially as the next President and Vice President are by definition, members of the Legacy Group.

Second: If ultimately, the seat of Senate President is zoned to the North Central geopolitical zone and the emergence of Akume and SARAKI as major contenders remains a reality, it would also not be unfair to favourably consider SARAKI for the position on the premise that Benue State had produced two former Senate Presidents in persons of Iyorchia Ayu and Ameh Ebute, not forgetting the outgoing David Mark. As a matter of fact, Kwara has never produced a Senate President since the independence of the entity Nigeria and it should be remembered that the highest position ever attained by a Kwaran in the Nigerian scheme was of the Senate Majority Leader by Late Senator Olusola SARAKI who coincidentally was BUKOLA SARAKI’s father, an attainment that earned the late sage no portfolio.

Third: I wish to recall the gallant strides of SARAKI as Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, especially his outstanding and mediating role during the reign of Late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua when the “Doctrine of Necessity” was introduced to save Nigeria from the constitutional crisis occasioned by the latter’s illhealth and also his applied wits that unfolded the subsidy scam that would have plunged the country into economic darkness.

Fourth: The manner in which an overwhelming majority of Kwarans roused themselves to accepting the leadership of the APC and its flag bearer, Retired General Muhammad Buhari cannot be overemphasised. Kwara was one of the states of the federation where the campaign for Buhari’s ascension to power was very vigorous. The call for a Buhari

presidency was so intense in the state that even some top notchers of the state’s opposition organised underground campaigns in favour of the retired General. The efforts of the duo of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and Senator BUKOLA SARAKI in this regard were also distinctive, a stride that only the APC Presidential Campaign Organisation was able to surpass. At every stop and moment during their campaigns for return, Ahmed and SARAKI took considerable time to seek their people’s votes for Buhari.

The popularity gained by the two leaders among their constituents, exemplified by goodwill and performance in office must have appreciably aided the attraction of Kwarans to the incoming ruling party.

Based on the forgone and unbarring the elements of justice, equity and fairplay, it would be a doing of honour if the leadership of the APC could employ its leverage in decision making to determine who the cap of the Senate President fits.