Governors Kashim Shettima and Ibikunle Amosun of Borno and Ogun states respectively have held closed door meeting that may not have been unconnected with the election of the president of the 9th senate.
The duo, who are senators-elect later met briefly with one of the frontline aspirants for the office of senate president, Senator Ali Ndume, and subsequently continued their deliberations which lasted for more than an hour.
According to a closed political associate of Ndume, who has vowed to defy the APC leadership and contest against the party choice in the person of Senator Ahmed Lawan, the meeting was largely part of the moves by current governors that are elected senators to influence the emergence of the 9th senate president.
Dependable sources said the meeting, which was held Tuesday in Abuja, was largely to negotiate with the former senate majority Ndume as the governors are held bent on meeting with key aspirants for the post with a view to taking a definite stand on the matter.
According to the source, the governors are unhappy with the hardline stance adopted by the APC leadership in the matter of who becomes the 9th senate president and are therefore willing to collaborate with any willing but credible senator to counter the party’s insistence of Ahmed Lawan.
“Some of the senators-elect particularly serving and former governors are unhappy with the hardline stance the APC national chairman adopted in the selection of the party’s choice of senate president.
“The national chairman Adams Oshiomhole took these senators for granted. Instead pleading with them, he sought to impose the senate majority leader on them unmindful of the independence of the legislature.
“Therefore, they have been holding meetings and going round meeting with aspirants. They want to influence things and would do anything possible to prevent external influence on the choice the 9th senate president,” he said.
Our correspondent learnt that when the two governors met with Ndume, they discussed for some time before excusing the serving senator and later relocated to another for further negotiation.
Neither governor Shetima nor Amosun were willing to volunteer comments on the meeting even as Ndume has, despite meeting with the Vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo, declined to drop his ambition.
Instead, he said he was still consulting with wide range of stakeholders in his quest to clinch the presidency of the 9th senate.
