The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) on Sunday called on Nigerians not to allow Senator Ahmed Lawan to emerge as the President of the ninth Senate.

In a statement issued on Sunday by its President, Yerima Abbas Shettima, the AYCF attributed the support Lawan was currently getting from some chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the secret pursuit of personal ambitions ahead of the 2023 elections.

The group also fingered the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai as being behind Lawan’s ambition.

“We advise the Tinubus and El-Rufais of this world to shove aside any desperate move on 2023 and allow a level-playing field for all political offices.

“No one should hide behind any political party to turn Nigerians into mere manipulable pawn. That will be undemocratic imposition and totally unacceptable,” Shettima said in the statement.

While recalling how it predicted that Senator Danjuma Goje would step down when pressured into submission using his pending case at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the group alleged that El-Rufai was trying to sell a dummy to Nigerians.

“We are happy to inform all Nigerian progressives that we have been vindicated in all the public declarations we made recently on the contentious seat of the Senate presidency.

“It is obvious that the desperation to make the road to Senate presidency smooth for Tinubu’s acolyte, Buhari’s foot-soldiers especially Governor Nasir El-Rufai are coming up with a new narrative to pull a blind wool over our eyes.

“The Kaduna State governor is trying to sell a dummy to Nigerians that the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) has done the needful regarding Goje’s case with the EFCC.

“And we ask, which Attorney-General when all ministers have since resigned? What is the meaning of taking a case that was under investigation by an independent body to an Attorney-General who is not the judge in the court handling the Senator Goje case?

“These are questions begging for answers and we are tempted to assume that the EFCC is about to be hindered from continuing with the case because Chief Tinubu, who has been pushing Buhari harder has vested interest with his 2023 presidential ambition,” the AYCF added.