In a bid to prevent a crisis in the 10th National Assembly, some senators have begun moves to concede the Senate Presidency to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
OsunDaily News reports that according to results by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the February 25 National Assembly election, the APC won 57 Senate seats, while the major opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has 29 seats.
The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) one seat; Labour Party, eight; New Nigeria People’s Party, two; Social Democratic Party, two; and the Young Progressive Party, one seat.
Some states like Sokoto, Kebbi, and Zamfara will have supplementary elections before the June inauguration of the 10th Assembly for the remaining members of the Red Chamber.
Following the tradition of the National Assembly and having won the majority of the seats, the APC is expected to form the majority caucus and produce the presiding officers.
Those eyeing the Senate Presidency senate in the upper legislative chambers include; Jibrin Barau (Kano Central), Sani Musa (Niger East), Orji Kalu (Abia North), and Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom North West).
Others are Osita Izunaso (Imo West), Peter Ndubuze (Imo North), Abdul’Aziz Yari (Zamfara West), and the incumbent Senate President, Ahmad Lawan (Yobe North).
Despite the APC producing the majority lawmakers, reports emerged last week that opposition parties in the House of Representatives are plotting to produce an upset and take over the Green chamber’s leadership.
Fueling these reports was the meeting held between opposition lawmakers-elect met in Abuja on Tuesday where they fine-tuned strategies for using their number as a bargaining power in negotiations with the speakership aspirants.
Speaking to The PUNCH, the senator representing Benue-South in the upper chamber, Abba Moro, said although it was true that there was no stated rule that the party with the majority of members must lead the Senate, it had become a convention to leave the leadership to the party with the majority members.
He stated that the upper legislative chamber would likely not take the route of upstaging the party with the absolute majority in order to avoid acrimony.
Moro said, “It is not out of place for the House of Representatives to do that as there is no written rule on which party leads either chamber. But the members at a convention agreed to always let the ruling party take the leadership seats.
“As a member of the Peoples Democratic Party and having seen the crisis that zoning can cause, I will say we should let things remain the way they are.
“If I were to choose, I will go with staying with the convention that we all agreed to. So, I will say that the party with the majority members should take the leadership seats.”
“That being said, the leadership must be that which considers all; it must be an inclusive one that allows for the system to work.
“The current leadership of the ninth Senate is rather political than system-oriented. We will want things to be better for an all-inclusive leadership,” he added.
Also speaking on the condition of anonymity. a lawmaker from Kebbi State denied knowledge of plans by opposition senators to upstage the ruling party.
The lawmaker stated, “I am not aware of any such plans and I don’t think such is necessary. The nation is going through a lot and to cause another chaos in the National Assembly is obviously not needed.
“I believe that we can manage things amicably and we trust the ruling party to do what is right.”
