Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, on Saturday appealed to the emotions of the senators-elect by urging them to vote for the stability of the country and not their individual pockets.

Shettima made the appeal during Saturday’s valedictory session which brought the 9th assembly (Senate) to a close as the presiding officer, Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, adjourned sitting sine die.

This would pave the way for the new assembly to be convened on Tuesday 13 June with a letter to the Clerk of the National Assembly from the president.

The All Progressives Congress, with a slim majority (59) in the Senate, is racing against time to produce the president it has anointed.

The National Working Committee of the party had announced former Minister of Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio, as its preferred choice.

This has not gone down well with other aspirants like Orji Uzor Kalu, Abdul-Azeez Yari, and Osita Osinazu who have maintained that they would not bow to any external interference and manipulation of the second organ of l government.

Although there has been a lukewarm approach to cement the preferred candidates from the leadership of the APC, Shettima maintained a middle ground on Saturday when he urged the senators-elect to look hard and make a choice for the survival of the country.

“To my incoming colleagues, I will leave you with a parable, ‘the stability of this nation is superior to the stability of our pockets’. On Tuesday, let us vote wisely, let us vote for the Nigerian nation,” he said.

Describing them as “friends who have become an integral part of my history,” he added that, “We have served shoulder to shoulder in the face of adversity and worked relentlessly for the betterment of our Nation.”a