Senator Jubril Aminu on Friday said it would be dangerous to overrate or underrate the importance of former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as the consensus aspirant of the Northern Political Leaders’ Forum.
The senator spoke during an interactive session with journalists in Abuja.
The NPLF, led by Alhaji Adamu Ciroma, recently picked Abubakar as the consensus aspirant of the North after conducting a ballot for four Northern PDP presidential aspirants.
The politicians Abubakar floored to emerge as the consensus aspirant are former military ruler, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida; another retired General, Aliyu Gusau and Kwara State Governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki.
Reacting to the development, Aminu, who, like Abubakar, is from Adamawa State, said it would be wrong to handle Abubakar with kid gloves.
He noted that the fact that the three other aspirants had honoured their commitment to pull out of the presidential race and support Abubakar meant that the consensus idea should be taken seriously.
The senator said, “There is danger in over-blowing the importance of the exercise and there is also danger in underrating it.
“Somehow in this world, in whatever you do, you must try to look at both sides of the coin.
“This did not involve any party; it did not involve any government, or any cultural or religious organisation.
“They did not even involve any economic sector or educational sector.
“We should therefore look at it as a private arrangement. We do not want to be seen to be cutting each other’s throats. They have their right to do so.”
The senator commented on the ongoing face-off between the federal lawmakers and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Lamido Sanusi, over the latter’s claim that 25 per cent of the nation‘s overhead was being spent on the National Assembly.
Aminu said the apex bank chief should not be blamed for his statements, and had no reason to apologise.
Rather, he noted that Sanusi relied on the information he obtained from a “supposedly competent” source, the Federal Ministry of Finance.
He said that it was not necessary for Sanusi to apologise for his statement.
“Sanusi is a very principled and logical person. Do you know the implication of apologising? You are tying yourself,” Aminu said.
“He felt he was using information given to him supposedly by a competent government source in the Ministry of Finance.
“So, you cannot crucify him for using the information from a competent source of government.
“He (Sanusi) is a victim of circumstances because he used the information from the best source available, how can he apologise?
“The National Assembly is a very reasonable body with people who will be able to separate the wheat from the chaff.”
Aminu went ahead to raise the alarm that the legislative arm of government, particularly the National Assembly, was under attack from some people in the executive.
He hinted that some state governors were the principal elements involved in the campaign against the lawmakers.
Aminu, who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, noted that the legislature’s stance on the amendment of the country’s electoral laws led to the attacks it was receiving from the people in the executive.
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