From Fred Itua, Abuja
Many senators elected on the platforms of opposition political parties, on Wednesday night in Abuja, resolved to work against the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar’s, bid to impose a former Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal as Senate minority leader.
The revolting senators said Atiku’s bid to impose Tambuwal on them, will be resisted the same way many PDP lawmakers fought against the emergence of Godswill Akpabio as President of the Senate, who they claimed was foisted on them by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Based on an unofficial instruction from the leadership of the PDP, a substantial number of opposition senators voted for Senator Abdulaziz Yari during the contest for the Senate’s top job.
Three PDP senators, one from Rivers State, another senator from the North and a ranking senator from the South West told newsmen after the meeting late Wednesday night that in confidence, expressed their readiness to support any person other than Tambuwal.
The group of lawmakers are insisting that Tambuwal has a record of throwing his political allies under the bus at critical moments to promote his selfish interest and lacks the capacity to provide the needed leadership to them as minority leaders.
The senators at the meeting said they resolved to support any ranking senator other than the former Sokoto State Governor.
They said with what Tambuwal did against the PDP, he would use the minority leadership position to negotiate and apologise to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who he betrayed after making him Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2011.
The senators stated that they know that Tambuwal whose regime has come under scrutiny in Sokoto State is on a mission to use the minority leadership position to negotiate for self-preservation and use the platform to run for the presidential election in 2027.
“Because of his inconsistency, unreliable nature and slippery character, both the President and Akpabio have made it clear to Senators close to them that on no account should he be supported.
“As a result of his antecedents senators are rejecting calls by PDP officials and their governors insisting that Tambuwal is no option,” a senator told newsmen in confidence.
Another source said: “You can trace the major political activities of Tambuwal for the past decade? Do you really think such a politician who cannot be trusted? He seems to have a record of treachery and betrayal of close friends and allies as he did to Jonathan, Wike, Tinubu himself and several others.
“In 2019, He went against his party, the PDP, and a sitting president to rubbish the PDP zoning arrangements just because it favoured him; he always plays to the ethnic and religious card when it favours him.
“When he became speaker with the support of opposition elements (that is Tinubu, Buhari and other leaders), he used the platform of speakership to effectively rubbish the presidency of Johnathan and the PDP and decamped/abandoned the party that made it possible and moved the APC and negotiated to be governor.
“Buhari, Tinubu, Wamako (confirm name) and others rewarded him for his treachery against the PDP but his ambition could not be accommodated so He betrayed Wamako, Tinubu, Buhari and aligned with Atiku and came back to PDP with the APC mandate that was given to him with the hope of running for the presidency.
“Wike against all odds backed him and promised to deliver the presidential nomination to him but Thank God that did not succeed.
“In 2021 he again went for a presidential visit but this time did not get Wike’s support, he then Betrayed Wike finally instead of supporting him to reward him for his loyalty in the primaries. This is the record of the politician Atiku wants to foist as minority leader of the party.
“Also, his senatorial election in Sokoto is now being contested; he was desperate to come to the Senate with the ambition that he would be rewarded with the position of the senate president.
“When it emerged that the PDP did not get a majority and with the defeat of Atiku and Okowa, Atiku and the PDP then changed their plan to make him minority leader to compensate him.
“This explains why the PDP and other opposition senators are rejecting him saying that he has an antecedent of treachery and betrayal and placing ambition over party, friendship and anything else and that kind of person is not going to have their support.”