Vice President Kashim Shettima has said it will be improper for a Northern Muslim to be elected Senate President.
During an interactive session with senators in Abuja, Shettima said he is ready to kneel down to beg the incoming senators to elect Godswill Akpabio (APC-Akwa-Ibom) and Sen. Barau Jibrin (APC-Kano) to lead the 10th Senate.
The Vice President said: “I’m ready to kneel down and beg my colleagues for the sake of the nation. This is for the survival of this nation.
“Here we are with a Muslim President and a Muslim Vice President in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious polity like ours.
“Number 1, 2; all of the same faith for God sake! Under the current dispensation, the worst, the most incompetent Southern Christian is better than the most puritanical Northern Muslim for the Presidency of the Senate.
“Equity, justice, and fairness demand that the number three citizen of this country should be Christian.
“What binds us together supersedes whatever divides us. But most importantly, we should make deliberate efforts to take inclusivity in governance.
“This is a young nation where every community will like to have fair representation on the dinner table of their kinsmen.
“Politics is about perception, politics is about optics. I want to appeal to you; I want to appeal to your conscience. “The stability and inclusivity and togetherness of this nation supersede the depth of our pockets, stability of our pockets.
“We are talking about the sustainability of the nation. The nation is at a crossroad,” Shettima stated.
Also speaking, Sen. Ali Ndume (APC-Borno) said the stability group has 73 persons who had signed for the Akpabio/Barau ticket.
Ndume said: “We are working very hard to support you in your course for the stability of this country.
“We have committed ourselves to your administration alongside President Bola Tinubu to ensure the stability of Nigeria.
“The last time we had a meeting with the lawmakers-elect across party lines, the president shook hands with each one of us and called us by our native names.
“This is one administration that will not only be people-oriented but close to the grassroots.
“So far, the decisions that are coming out are those that will strengthen Nigeria.
“We’ll see Nigeria change before our very eyes and we’re committed to being a part of that change. We assure you not just of our loyalty but the stability of the parliament.”