North East Consultative Forum endorses Danjuma Goje as its candidate for senate president

SENATOR Danjuma Goje has been endorsed by the North East Consultative Forum (NESF) made up of five groups from the geo-political zone as their candidate for the office of the senate president in the forthcoming ninth National Assembly.

On May 29, the new National Assembly will be inaugurated and its first task will be to elect new leaders including the senate president, deputy senate president, speaker of the House of Representatives and his deputy. All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders have zoned the position of senate president to the northeast and agreed upon Senator Ahmad Lawan from Yobe North Senatorial District as their candidate.

However, the decision is not popular with all APC members all of the elected senators as it is seen as an imposition because among other things, Senator Lawan is very close to President Muhammadu Buhari. Yesterday, after a meeting at the Zaranda Hotel in Maiduguri, the NESF made up of groups including the North East Elders Mobilisation Forum, APC National Youth Caucus, Borno Discussion Circle, Gombe Political Associations and North East Youth Awareness for Good Governance, urged Senator Goje to immediately declare for the position.

After a thorough assessment of the three contenders for the senate presidency from northeast, the groups opted to endorse Senator Goje, a former Gombe State governor. Apart from Senators Lawan and Goje, the former senate majority leader Senator Ali Ndume is also in the running for senate president.

In the letter, dated April 17, the conveners of the group Barrister Mustapha Saidu and Alhaji Bello Ambo, commended the APC for zoning the senate presidency to the northeast. They said the zoning of the position to the geopolitical zone was a confirmation of the party’s commitment to reward hard work, following the zone’s contribution to the party’s victory in the just concluded general elections.

They said: “Following very wide consultations among stakeholders, party members and after careful assessment of his contribution to the party and Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, we hereby present to you, Senator Muhammad Danjuma Goje as the choice of the people of the northeast for the senate president of the ninth assembly. Senator Goje is eminently respected among members of the National Assembly and the country for his immense contribution to the success of the APC in 2015 and 2019 general elections.

"The landslide victory of the APC in Gombe State in the just-concluded general elections is a sure testimony of is gallantry loyalty and commitment to the APC. ”We, therefore, urge Senator Danjuma Goje to come forward and declare his interest to vie for the position of the president of the senate in the ninth assembly.”