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Senate Presidency: Borno gov disowns Ndume, endorses Lawan
Senator Ahmad Lawan’s bid for 9th Senate Presidency received a boost yesterday with Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State throwing his weight behind his aspiration against another major contender from his state, Senator Ali Ndume.
Governor Shettima, who is one of the three Senators-elect from Borno State openly declared his support for Ahmad Lawan in his Abuja residence in the presence of 14 other Senators – elect across the six geo- political zones.
He pointedly declared that though Senator Ali Ndume who is also contesting for the position of President of the 9th Senate , is from his state but Lawan being the candidate of their party and in particular , the candidate of President Muhammadu Buhari, is his candidate and that of the other Senator from the State (Abubakar Kyari) .
He said: “I hail from the same state with the distinguished senator Ali Ndume and I appreciate the fact that politics is local. But politics is also national. And I believe the bond that bind us together supersedes whatever we might harbour.
” For the position of President of the 9th Senate, I fully aligned with the aspiration of my party and that of President Muhammadu Buhari and by the grace of God, we are going to mobilize all our goodwill to see that we are fully onboard.
“We are for Senator Ahmad Lawan, we are for Hon Femi Gbajabiamila and all other senators and other Reps members endorsed by the party.
“We are for party discipline that allowed everyone to aspire for political offices. We believe that we must respect the party. All of us won under platforms. There is no provision for independent candidate. I am fully onboard, I am for Senator Ahmad Lawan for Senate president”.
When reminded that Senator Ali Ndume claimed to be in the race based on support from the home front, Governor Shettima said:
“Well, I am the first citizen of the state, I have made wide consultations with our leaders from Borno before resolving to back Sen Ahmed Lawan. And most importantly, let’s be brutally honest, Muhammadu Buhari is the single candidate in the country that most of us from the North won election by aligning with him.
“So, we have no basis to undermined him or to disrespect him. Though people like Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and Sen Ifeanyi Ubah, Sen Francis Alimikhena etc, but most of us from the North have no basis not to realined ourselves with president Buhari and whoever he wants in whatever positions.
“He has endorsed some of the best hands we have in the system and where we hail from, Sen Ahmed Lawan is one of the best hands we have. It is a reality. He has been in the national assembly since 1999 he has the experience, exposure, pedigree, intellect to redefine the process.
“He is the best amongst equals. He is level headed, calm, matured and we need such quality of leadership to drive the 9th Senate”.
But before Shettima’s open support for Lawan, Borno Elders in a statement issued by their spokesman in Abuja , Alhaji Yakubu Umar, call on President Muhammadu Buhari to support Ndume.
According to them, the President had before the general elections, gave Ndume green light for the contest and should not abandon him in the middle of the race.
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