The All Progressives Congress (APC) which achieved total victory in the last elections in Kwara State by leading in the presidential, governorship, national and state assembly elections, intends to cap it all with the Senate Presidency slot for its leader, Senator Bukola Saraki. How far can it go?

With the conclusion of the 2015 general elections and the All Progressives Congress (APC) becoming the majority party in the National Assembly, there has been a lot of jostle for leadership positions in the two chambers of the parliament.

The debate that has dominated the polity after the elections has been who becomes the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives and other key positions in the two chambers. This has generated anxiety and high level intrigue among the key actors.

For the Senate Presidency, the North-Central and North-East geopolitical zones are eyeing the coveted seat. While some are agitating for the retention of the seat in the North-Central zone where the current Senate President, Senator David Mark hails from, others are making case for the North-East.

However, the contest is very hot in the North-Central where the former Governor of Kwara State, Senator Bukola Saraki and the current minority leader in the Senate, Senator George Akume from Benue State, are eyeing the seat.

Though the party has not officially come out with its zoning formula, the North-Central chapter of the APC has been agitating for the retention of the position in the zone.

The Kwara State chapter of the APC has joined its counterparts in the other five states of the geopolitical zone including Kogi, Niger, Plateau, Nasarawa, Benue as well as the FCT to prevail on the APC leadership to cede the slot to Saraki despite the fact that they are yet to reach a consensus on who emerges as Senate President from among the ranking senators in the zone.

The contest appears to be a straight battle between Kwara and Benue. Nasarawa equally has a ranking senator in the person of former governor Abdullahi Adamu, but analysts say from what is going on, Akume and Saraki are the major contenders in the zone.

The APC in Kwara has taken the battle seriously, campaigning and soliciting support for its leader in his bid to become the Senate President and chairman of the National Assembly.

Stakeholders and others in the state have taken the project with the seriousness they believe it deserves. Several youth groups, political associations, university dons have endorsed the candidature of Saraki for the coveted position. More importantly, stakeholders in the state political firmament have been seeking God's intervention to make Saraki's aspiration a reality.

Just last week, the state APC gathered Islamic clerics to organize special prayer for Saraki. The prayer, which held at its secretariat, had in attendance prominent Islamic scholars who prayed fervently for the success of the project.

The Senate presidency, according to inside sources, is a project that is very dear to Saraki's heart, saying it is one achievement which would shore up his CV as a political figure and prepare him for higher responsibilities in future. Besides, the position would have earned him a higher honour of beating his father's record in the National Assembly. He would have, by becoming the next Senate President, succeeded in achieving the feat the late Oloye, Senator Olusola Saraki, the Second Republic Senate Leader, could not achieve.

He has no doubt received endorsements and support just like other contenders. His strongest supporters are youths who see in Saraki a youthful candidate for the position.

Will the party's leadership cede the position for the North-Central as is being demanded by stakeholders from the zone? Will Akume step down for Saraki? Will other states in the zone concede the position to Kwara especially when some states have begun to play ethnic card, arguing that Kwara is a Yoruba state?

Some of the stakeholders said that kind of stereotyping has become the lot of the state when it comes to sharing political offices meant for the entire North.

The state APC chairman cleared the air on the controversy, explaining that Kwara is not a Yoruba state as is being insinuated.

He said, "That is not true. It's a state that comprises different kinds of tribes like the Kanuri, Nupe, Kenberis, Gwaris, Yorubas, Hausas, Barubas and others. We belong to the North and not part of the South-West.

"We want stability in the region and if anything is in the North-West, the next position should be brought to North-Central where we have majority of the minority of Nigerians to further stabilise the polity and that is our appeal," he said.

The party chair noted that the chances of Saraki are very bright despite the on-going intrigues because of his performance as a two-term governor and Senator.

Balogun-Fulani reiterated that it was Saraki who exposed the scam in the oil sector in the name of subsidy.

"He is the reason you have the SURE-P in the country; he exposed that moneys were being squandered by some few individuals, and government woke up to deploy the money for the use of the populace.

"We believe if he becomes the Senate president, Nigeria will see the light of the day and will move forward.

"And also because of justice, they have done very well by zoning it to this region, and we on our part are still appealing to the hierarchy of the APC not to take it away from us if they want justice, peace and fair play. We believe it will stabilise the polity if it still remains in North Central."

Adding his voice to Saraki's presidency of the Senate, Professor of Political Science, Hassan Salihu, said Saraki had firmed up his control of the state political apparatus after defecting from the PDP and still recorded total victory for APC in the last election. This feat, according to the don, is enough to surrender the position to him.

As the scheming goes on, political stakeholders in the state are anxious about Saraki's emergence by next month when the 8th National Assembly would be inaugurated. Would Saraki succeed Mark? This poser would be unravelled in the next one month.