President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, has charged leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to ensure that only credible candidates emerge for leadership positions in the National Assembly.

This was just as a meeting of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) on Wednesday night was inconclusive.

The NEC, it was gathered, mandated Buhari and the National Chairman of the party, John Odigie-Oyegun, “to meet and come up with unblemished candidates as our leaders in the National Assembly.”

Among top contenders for the Senate Presidency in the North-Central and the North-East, are Senators George Akume, Bukola Saraki and Abdullahi Adamu. Only Ahmad Lawan is vying for the position in the North-East.

However, sources close to the party disclosed that General Buhari had, at the meeting, restated his commitment to the anti-corruption war and insisted that men of integrity should be allowed to hold critical positions.

“In fact, his marching orders to us was that candidates for National Assembly positions must be able to work harmoniously with the executive arm of government for better service delivery,” a source said.

Meanwhile, the North-Central caucus of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Senate has split over the choice of Minority Leader, George Akume, or Senator Bukola Saraki to succeed incumbent Senate President, David Mark.

The caucus reportedly split into two camps as some serving senators, who have been re-elected to the chamber are rooting for Akume, while some members, particularly the newly elected senators are supporting Saraki.

However, some ranking senators from the North-Central, it was gathered, were also mulling the option of picking the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Ahmad Lawan, from Yobe State “as our consensus candidate because some former governors, even from the North-West, are also eyeing the Senate president seat.

Kicking against the ambition of such former governors, the ranking senators said: “They are telling the party to discard the ranking rule in the Senate.”

A ranking senator explained that Akume was preferred over Saraki because “Akume is accessible and pragmatic. He is even senior to Saraki because he has been in the chamber since 2007.”

Another colleague added that Akume, having been a principal officer for four years, should also be considered because he had the requisite experience.