The cloud of uncertainty surrounding the zone which should produce the senate president may be clearing soon as indications have shown that the President-elect, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), may have shown his preference and support for the candidacy of Senator Ahmed Lawan from the North-east zone for the number three position of the land.

This is just as the intrigues and negotiations among the contending candidates have reached a feverish pitch. This development runs counter to the impression that Gen. Buhari is indifferent about the National Assembly leadership race. Given that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been delaying in making a categorical statement about its zoning arrangement, other contenders for the office are yet jostling for the senate presidency seat.

The duo of Senators Bukola Saraki and George Akume, both from the North-central zone, are yet striving to grow their support base in the contest for the position.

While Ilorin elders yesterday threw their support behind Saraki, a group of elders, who described themselves as Leaders of Thought in North Central zone, also endorsed the candidature of Akume for the headship of the National Assembly.

Despite the emerging three-horse race, the choice of Lawan may receive inter-regional boost as the South-west bloc is said to be considering supporting Lawan's aspiration provided Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila is in turn, supported for the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Gbajabiamila is the candidate of one of the leaders of the party, Senator Bola Tinubu.

Indeed, sources in the party confirmed that the sudden turnaround of Tinubu to throw his weight behind Lawan as against his initial choice of Senate Minority Leader Akume was based on his reading of Buhari's preference for Lawan. THISDAY gathered that Tinubu's ability to effectively discern the president-elect's preference, and in order to avoid a collision course with Buhari on the subject of the Senate presidency, was said to have propelled his adoption of Lawan as his preferred candidate, albeit with an ulterior objective.

Tinubu's sudden support for Lawan and making it look like it is his brainchild was said to be convenient for Buhari, who does not care how Lawan emerges as the senate president.

This is even more so as the president-elect would rather his preference is not made public, since he had given his word to the party that he would remain neutral on the leadership tussle in the National Assembly.

Besides and more importantly, Buhari does not also want to be seen in opposition to the governors, a move he believes could create a problem for his presidency too early in the day and distract him from delivering on his promise to "change" the fortunes of Nigerians. Also, if he comes out openly in support of Lawan and former Kwara State Governor, Senator Saraki, who seems more popular eventually wins, it could demystify him (Buhari) and undermine his sphere of influence with the governors, a scenario that played out under the Goodluck Jonathan presidency.

It is for this reason the president-elect's close aides and associates have continued to pretend that the Lawan project is being executed by them, independent of Buhari.

But the truth, THISDAY has learnt, is that Lawan is the foremost choice of the retired army general. Interestingly for Tinubu, the choice of Lawan from the North-east, it is believed, would enhance the chances of his own candidate, Gbajabiamila from the South-west zone, for the speakership race in the House of Repersentatives, while Hon. Abdulmumuni Jubrin from the North-west would be elected his deputy.

This has been given fillip by the new accord reportedly reached by the two zones. The accord has however been put on hold in order to see how the intrigues crystallise.

However, the degree of interest that has followed the choice for the senate presidency has not made a compromise easy for the contending parties, as the APC leadership is deeply divided over the issue. APC sources also hinted that another reason the stalemate has lingered is because the party chairman, Chief John Oyegun, and the governors of the party have not hidden their support for Saraki as their choice for the post of senate president, and had taken it a step further by zoning the post to the North-central, where Saraki hails from.

This naturally puts Buhari and Tinubu in another camp, as they are both rooting for Lawan. Although Tinubu, sources noted, is actually lukewarm over who emerges as the senate president, he however does not want a choice that would hinder the chances of his candidate for the speakership (Gbajabiamila) through unfavourable zoning.

Thus, reconciling the differences is the reason the stalemate appears intractable, as both sides are not willing to shift grounds. This is also why the governors elected on the platform of the party recently held a meeting in Abuja, where they reportedly zoned the senate presidency to the North-central, a move that conferred prominence on Saraki as the strongest and most favoured candidate from the zone.

The governors, sources said, had taken the stance because they see Saraki as one of them and the fact that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors, who defected to the APC, swelled their ranks and enhanced their chances during the elections. But this move was believed to have angered the camp of Buhari and Tinubu, who viewed the decision of the governors as an affront on the party's supremacy.

The APC leadership (with the exception of Oyegun who seems to align with the governors), sources hinted, is not ready to grant the legislature its independence and is doing everything humanly possible to determine its leadership.

A highly informed source in the party, who described the development as unfortunate, said if Buhari weighs in the way he wants to, it would go on to confirm fears in the North-central zone that the core north does not reckon with them when it really matters. "This is particularly disturbing because the North-central, for the first time, delivered massively to the APC and Buhari, trusting that the latter would correct this perception of isolation of the zone by the core north.

"The best he can do is stay away. We have never known him to be Machiavellian in his approach to seeking his goals, but one who believes in the fact that God holds the key to everything," one APC member said. It was not surprising, therefore, that the outgoing Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, warned the APC leadership that the delay in zoning the positions in the National Assembly leadership may work in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He said he had feelers that some APC lawmakers were already working for the PDP. "If the APC and indeed the president-elect allow PDP to snatch victory at the National Assembly, then it will be an unusual scenario which they would pay for," he said while addressing journalists last Sunday. But despite the seeming edge Saraki has in the North-central zone, a group of elders in the region yesterday threw their weight behind Akume. The group which comprised statesmen and former governors in the region, met in Rockview Hotel, Abuja where it advocated the zoning of the office to the North-central.

Describing itself as "Leaders of Thought in North-central Zone," the group said it was keenly interested in the position of senate president, insisting that zoning the office to the North-central would promote stability, political harmony, justice and fair play in the polity.

A communique issued at the end of the meeting and obtained by THISDAY, stated that in the spirit of equity and fair play, the office of the senate president should be zoned to North-central, a minority zone, because the offices of president and chief justice had been secured by the North-west and North-east respectively.

"The equity and fair play we are talking about is that of representation of ethnic and religious groups in the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As it is well, these ethnic minorities and Christians largely exist in the South-east, South-south, South-west and North-central zones.

"The incoming administration, the president-elect is from the North-west while the chief justice of the federation is from the North-east, the remaining arm of government, the National Assembly which is led by the senate president must therefore be headed by someone of ethnic minority group from the North-central zone. Thus we are delighted to present to the senators, one who meets these conditions and much more, Senator George Akume who is Tiv by tribe and a Christian from Benue State," the communique said. The group also called on Nigerians to support Akume whom they said would complement the government of Buhari as the nation's president.

The communique was signed by a former military governor of Benue State, General Lawrence Onoja; Senator Joseph Akaagerger; Senator Jack Illicy-Gyado; former Deputy Governor of Plateau State, Pauline Tallen and Mr. Jack Yakubu Pam. Others were Muhammadu Gwaska; Dr. Haruna Dablin; Dr. Chi Chi Ashiwe; Mr. Patrick Ahenijir; Mr. Tanks Abdullahi and Joe Kyaagba. In the same vein, some eminent elders of Ilorin Emirate in Kwara State have declared their support for the aspiration of Saraki to emerge as the next senate president.

The elders under the aegis of Four Tracks Elders Forum expressed their confidence in the ability of Saraki to provide effective and quality leadership in the upper chamber of the National Assembly. They expressed their support in a statement signed by Alhaji Ganiyu Lawal-Giwa, Alhaji Tijjani Orisankoko, Alhaji Tunde Saka and Alhaji Musa Aiyelabegan.

They noted that: "Since Saraki's foray into partisan politics we have keenly monitored his activities and have come to the conclusion that he's one of the best leaders that God endowed Nigeria with," adding that, "even the blind can feel Saraki's excellent performance in the upper chamber of the National Assembly where he's representing Kwara central."

It's in line with the above that members of this forum are urging the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress(APC) to consider Saraki for the position of the senate president," they said.

The statement argued further that "Saraki's role in the events that culminated in metamorphosing APC from a regional party to a national party cannot also be over emphasised. The emergence of Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje as the chairman of the then new Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the defection of five former PDP governors to the APC speak volume of Saraki's involvement in making APC what it is today".

The statement further pointed out that "to analyse the situation, Benue (having produced David Mark) is just going out after eight years and it would only be fair to give the slot to Kwara State while Saraki should be the beneficiary of such arrangement". A source in the party told THISDAY that another controversial position that is yet to be resolved is the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

It was earlier zoned to the South-east, but the source said that in a meeting between the APC governors and the party leadership, it was agreed that the office should remain hanging till further notice, pointing out that "it has not been zoned to anywhere, at least for now."

Meanwhile, there seems to be a split among the senators from the North-west supporting either Saraki or Lawan. It was gathered that while Lawan has the three senators from Kano State supporting him, he does not enjoy such support in Katsina, Zamfara and Kaduna States.

The source said that it is not true that all the senators from the seven states of the North-west are supporting Lawan. As the source put it, "In some of the North-west states, it is either one senator for Saraki or one for Lawan that has made total commitment of support and not all of the senators from the zone that is supporting Lawan.

"In fact, as things are, out of the 21 senators of the zone, the balance of scale is either 11 senators in favour of Lawan or 10 senators for Saraki or the other way round."

Unconfirmed checks indicate that APC senators from the South-west zone have told their leader, Tinubu to look for another candidate other than Lawan.

THISDAY learnt that piqued by the intrigues and the likely implications of any further delay, the APC leadership, starting with the national caucus will meet on Wednesday in Abuja where a decision will be finally taken. "The issue has really put the party on the edge. This is the first time after the merger that we will be so undecided on anything, not even the issue of national chairman and even that of the presidential candidate of the party caused this much of concern to the party," a source lamented.

"Either way you look at it, care must be taken not to rock the boat but a decision has to be taken, and that is why the leadership of the party will finalise the matter this week; may be at the level of the national caucus scheduled for Wednesday," the source said.