Kano senator Barau declares interest in Senate presidency; dismisses religious concerns

Senator Jibrin Barau has declared his interest to vie for the presidency of the 10th Senate, claiming that he is the most experienced candidate for the job.

Mr Barau, an All Progressives Congress senator representing Kano North spoke with reporters in Abuja on Wednesday.

He said that with the array of candidates who had indicated interest for the position, he was the most competent.

“I want to tell you that I intend to seek to be the 10th Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“In a few weeks, I will make a formal declaration,” he said.

Mr Barau, who is also the Chairman Senate Committee on Appropriation said that the Legislature was a distinct arm of government that worked on competence.

“It doesn’t work on sentiments, it works on your ability to do the job. It is a tradition all over the world. It is there in our rules and this rule is a product of our constitution.

“It is clearly in our Standing Rules too that aspiration or election for the Office of the Senate President shall be in accordance with ranking.

“And among those who are seeking to occupy that office as we speak, I have the highest ranking. I’m the most experienced.

“The issue is that of competence, you need to be grounded in the procedure of legislation before you are able to be the President of the Senate.

“Do you now relegate competence for other sentiments?”

He further said that the position of the Senate President was not based on religion.

“You remember there was a time the Senate President, David Mark and his Deputy, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu were christians

“At that same time in the House of Representatives, Patricia Etteh was the Speaker.

“This is because they were the most experienced at that time. That is the tradition.

“Do we now relegate competence to the background? It is not possible. If you are talking about sentiments, North-West deserves the senate presidency.

“Bringing religious sentiments won’t fly,” he said.

Mr Barau also said that the Legislature was that arm of government that needed to work hard to check the Executive.

“So, when you bring that kind of sentiment into the legislature, you are not doing well for that arm of government. We need to remove that sentiment,” he said.

Mr Barau contested in the elections of 1999 for the House of Representatives to represent Tarauni Federal Constituency of Kano State which he won.

While in the House of Representatives, he served as the Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation.

He was also a member of the House of Representatives Committee on Power.

After he completed his term at the House of Representatives, Barau returned back to private practice.

On his return to electoral contest in 2015, Mr Barau contested and won election to the Senate of Federal Republic of Nigeria, representing Kano North Senatorial District on the platform of the All Progressives Congress.

At the Senate, Mr Barau was appointed the Vice – Chairman Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) of the Senate, and subsequently became the Chairman of the same Committee.

He was reassigned to the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETfund as the Chairman of the Committee in 2016 Barau is member of the Committee on Niger Delta, Industries, Land Transportation and Appropriations.

He was reelected for a third term on February 25.

(NAN)