Senate Presidency Tussle Worsens as 68 Senators-Elect Reject Consensus Candidate

No fewer than 68 senators-elect across party lines rejected any consensus arrangement that could lead to imposition of presiding officers on the upper chamber of the 10th National Assembly, billed for inauguration June 13.

They took the decision at a meeting in Abuja, which lasted from Saturday night till the early hours of Sunday.

At the same time, All Progressives Congress (APC) Integrity Group warned Tinubu and the NWC not to plunge the party into crisis over zoning of National Assembly offices.

One of the 68 senators-elect, who came from the North-east, said on conditions of anonymity that majority of them had indicated their strong opposition to the planned imposition, and agreed to work towards electing pan-Nigeria senators as President and Deputy President of the Senate.

He said, “All senators-elect from North-west zone, except two, have thrown their weight behind the planned resistance and pledged to support a leader emerging from amongst themselves. They do not want anybody to be imposed on them. Same with the senators-elect from the North-east except a few self-seeking elected senators.”

On the issue of ranking, senator-elect from North-east, who did not want his name mentioned, indicated that only five out of the 18 senators-elect were in support of the imposition of Akpabio and Barau Jibrin.

“Only four out of the 15 senators-elect from the South-east had agreed to the Akpabio/Barau project,” the source added.

Another senator-elect from Anambra State confided in THISDAY that a majority of the senators had subscribed to electing a leader on the floor, adding that the next Senate President would emerge without external interference.

The senator said, “No monetary or executive imposition will determine our choice of a leader and we will do it conscious of the fact that part of such leadership must be from the south-eastern part of the country.
“In the North-central, the plot also thickens as many of the senators-elect are reacting to the APC leadership plans to short-change the zone with the imposition.

“They are lamenting that the arrangement would not do the zone any good, as both Speaker and Deputy Senate President positions have been taken away and proposed to another zone.

“The action will completely distort the equitable distribution of leadership positions across the six geopolitical zones. On their part the South-south region senators-elect are divided sharply as to who emerges.

“Senators-elect from Akwa Ibom have indicated their solidarity to the group against imposing leadership of the red chamber and have pledged their support to the emergence of an independent leadership in the Senate.”

Indications from the senators-elect were that only about six of the zone’s 18 senators-elect might accept to go with the Akpabio/Barau deal.

THISDAY, however, gathered that only the South-west appeared to be comfortable with the Akpabio/Barau project. Three South-west senators were, in fact, said to be behind the Akpabio/Barau idea.

The senators, who were said to be projecting the religion cards in the election of the 10th Senate President, were Opeyemi Bamidele (Ekiti), Adeola Somolon (Ogun), and Tokunbo Abiru (Lagos).

As it currently stands, THISDAY gathered, six of the senators-elect from the South-west favoured independently choosing their leaders.

Another aggrieved senator from the North-east said, “From the foregoing, the direction the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress and the president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, are going on the issue of the 10th Assembly leadership are crystal clear.

“They are bent on imposing leadership on the red and green chambers, which is going to be very detrimental to the smooth take off of the 10th Assembly. Many of the senators-elect that have signed an endorsement document for Akpabio/Barau said they did it because of the largesse attached to it.

“They have confided in some of us that the endorsement they signed is not binding. Majority have denounced the imposition and have vowed to cast their votes independently according to their conscience and not on anyone’s imposing anybody to them.

“The senators-elect have all agreed to shelve their party affiliations and work in the spirit of equity, justice and fairness in an undiluted manner in electing the right leadership for the 10th Assembly.”

According to one of the ranking returning senators from a North-west, Tinubu does not necessarily need to balance his same-faith presidential ticket with the principal officers’ positions in the National Assembly.

 He said, “Legislative sovereignty, as enshrined in our constitution, must not be hindered by unnecessary interference. The principle of separation of powers should guide us, as it holds that the legislative body will elect or choose its leaders from among themselves, hence external interference in any form especially imposition must be resisted.”

A returning senator-elect from the South West also said, “An independent legislature has long been endorsed as one of the three pillars of good government; hence, the president-elect must toe the line of democratic ethics and be ready to work with any leadership that emerges as a democrat.”

Notwithstanding the reported endorsement of Akpabio by Tinubu, Senator-elect Abdul-Aziz Yari told stakeholders that he would take the battle to the Senate floor.

But APC Integrity Group warned Tinubu and the party leadership not to plunge APC into crisis. The group said in a statement signed by the coordinator, Malam Dawud Mohammed, and secretary, Chisom Nwakanma, that allowing one geopolitical zone to produce two presiding officers of the 10th National Assembly was a recipe for crisis.

The group maintained that the position of Deputy Senate President and Speaker of House of Representatives could not go to the same zone. It added that it would be in the interest of the party to zone the presiding offices of Senate President, Deputy Senate President, Speaker, House of Representatives, and Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives to different geopolitical zones.

It said while the national leadership of the party was yet to come up with the zoning arrangement, the president-elect was also yet to anoint a candidate as a presiding officer.

The group, however, stressed that going by the horse-trading at the National Assembly, some lawmakers had been favoured for the positions of Senate President and Speaker of House of Representatives.

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