History is about to repeat itself ahead of the constitution of the leadership of the ninth National Assembly, as the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says it will also field in candidates for the various leadership position, particularly the office of Senate President, Igbere TV reports.
This is coming less than 24 hours after a former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume (APC, Borno) said he would challenge the decision of the party to adopt Senator Ahmad Lawan (APC, Yobe) as Senate President.
Igbere TV recalls that the National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, at a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari and APC Senators-elect, Monday night announced Lawan as the party’s candidate for Senate Presidency position.
In a statement by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, he said that elected senators and members of the House of Representatives of the opposition party are constitutionally eligible to seek election into any presiding office of both chambers of the National Assembly.
“The PDP, therefore, does not only have a constitutional say in the process of the emergence of the leadership of the 9th National Assembly, but will, as a matter of constitutional right, field candidates into presiding offices of both chambers,” Ologbondiyan said in a statement on Tuesday.
On the other hand, Ndume, a ranking Senator from the North-East, has expressed dissatisfaction over the decision of his party, the APC to adopt lawmakers for leadership positions in the 9th assembly.
Speaking with newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja, Ndume said the position of the party on who emerges the Senate President cannot stand as it did not follow due process, adding that he consulted widely and was given the go-ahead by party leaders to vie for the position.
For him, the best the party could have done was to zone the slot of Senate President to a geo-political zone and allow the zone to choose their candidate.
“First of all, let me say that the decision by the party to settle for an individual instead of zoning the position to a particular geopolitical zone and also consulting or allowing the senators from that zone to decide who among them they prefer as Senate President, is a surprise.
“We were surprised on Monday when national chairman of our party told us a decision had been taken to adopt Ahmad Lawan as candidate from the North-east for the position of the President of the Senate.
“Such a decision was taken and we were not given the chance to ask questions. We were not allowed to make comments.
“The President made his remarks and after that, the national anthem was recited.
“Even the chosen candidate was not given the chance to thank us or say something about it. Those of us that have indicated interests were not consulted or given the chance to make any comments.
“The reason why I am shocked and I am sure that is the feeling of my colleagues, is that the constitutional provision for the emergence of the leadership of the Senate is clearly spelt out.
“Section 51 (a) of the Constitution says that “there shall be a Senate President and Deputy Senate President who shall be elected by members of the House.
“Section 1 of the Constitution clearly states that “this Constitution is binding on all Nigerians and government agencies.
“It went further to say that any other law that contravenes the provision of the Constitution is null and void.
“As a party that is supposed to be democratic and as a government that insists on allowing due process to prevail, this is strange. A candidate of APC normally emerges by one of three means, namely- consensus, indirect elections and direct primaries,” he said.
Although the APC has a clear majority of about 63 elected Senators so far, there are fears that Ndume, who was supplanted by Lawan as Senate Leader in the eighth Senate, sees this as an opportunity to take his pound of flesh. Ndume believes that Lawan colluded with Saraki to effect his removal as Senate leader without prior notice or complaints, therefore, he may want to give the Senate Presidency a shoot with the support of his colleagues from the ruling party and opposition PDP.
There are also reports that Senator Danjuma Goje (APC, Gombe) enjoys the support of the Saraki group because he appears more acquiescent to the group in its bid to secure the position of Senate President, acting in concert with the PDP caucus.
Should the APC not be able to contain its internal dissonance, the party risks going through the same crisis it went through in 2015 when Bukola Saraki defeated the APC-endorsed Ahmed Lawan to emerge Senate president.
“It will be farcical if, under his nose and in a back-to-back manner, the President allows the 2015 tragedy to be re-enacted,” a political analyst told Igbere TV on Tuesday night.
