9th NASS leadership: Can APC avert 2015 scenario?

Ordinarily, with  comfortable majority seats won from the just concluded national elections  at both chambers of the coming 9th  National Assembly, emergence of the four presiding officers among elected federal lawmakers from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), shouldn’t have been a problem. However, the cracks within their ranks signal a possible repeat of  2015 scenario. TAIYE ODEWALE reports.

To start with, the four presiding officers’ positions at both chambers of the National Assembly,  that is the Senate and the House of Representatives,  are the President of the Senate, Deputy Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Deputy Speaker respectively .

Though Section  50(1a and b)  of the 1999 Constitution as amended does not categorically state that only  members from any party with majority seats should emerge as presiding officers of any new legislature at inauguration through elections, but since democracy is a game of numbers, elected federal lawmakers from any party with majority seats have always been emerging or elected for  that purposes.

The section  states: “There shall be a President and Deputy President of the Senate who shall be elected by the members of that House  from among themselves; and (b) a Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves.”

Consequently since occupants of such positions or offices are to emerge from among the elected members of either of the two legislative Houses — the Senate and the House of Representatives — all those that  emerged in such capacities over the years since 1999, were  members of political parties with majority seats with the exception of Senator Ike Ekweremadu who emerged as deputy president of the current  8th  Senate in June 2015  as member of a party; the Peoples Democratic party  with minority members.

Pre-2015 scenario

In the 2015 general elections, the PDP which had been the party in power and control of the leadership of the National Assembly  since May/June 1999, lost out to the now ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) with the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential poll and clinching of majority of the available 469 seats at both chambers of the National Assembly.But unlike PDP’s 16 years of partisan leadership of the National Assembly as regards the four presiding positions, the APC, despite being in majority in the Senate couldn’t achieve that, and therefore ended up with a bi-partisan leadership. Under  this arrangement, Senator Bukola Saraki then of the APC emerged Senate President and  Ekweremadu (PDP Enugu West) as his deputy on account of division among the 60 senators-elect on the APC platform  then as against 49 of the PDP (totalling the available 109 legislative seats in the Senate.)

Possible repeat?

Four years after and even with more comfortable majority seats secured at both chambers for the coming 9th National Assembly, APC, going by recent developments  or better put, encounters between its national leadership and federal lawmakers elect, may run into similar leadership crisis at the National Assembly, particularly in the Senate.

Strong indication to this effect is the backlash that followed meeting of the APC national leadership with its 65 senators-elect (so far) at the presidential villa this week  in Abuja, precisely on Monday night where the party’s national chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole was alleged to have, by announcement to the Senators-elect, zeroed in on  Senator Ahmed Lawan (APC Yobe North) as the party’s choice for the number one seat in the 9th Senate.

No lesson learnt –Ndume 

Making the allegation Tuesday morning in Abuja at his residence , one of the contenders for the position, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume (APC Borno South), told journalists that what transpired at the dinner between the national leadership of the party and APC senators-elect on the who leads the 9th Senate in particular, was nothing but pure imposition which he described as unconstitutional and unexpected from a party  people thought must have learnt its lessons .

According to him, by provisions of the constitution, neither Oshiomhole nor President Muhammadu Buhari or even any party leader, has the right to force on elected senators or Hon members of the House of Representatives,  their presiding officers.

He said: “What took place at the presidential dinner in Aso rock on Monday night where Oshiomhole as party chairman, announced Senator Ahmed Lawan and Hon Femi Gbajabiamila as President of the 9th Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively was very shocking to me and many of my colleagues.

“Oshiomhole, in making the announcement or endorsement, did not even allow myself or Senators Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central) and Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa west), widely known to be in the race for the position to say anything.

“More disturbing was the fact that even Senator Ahmed Lawan endorsed for the position, was not allowed to make any comment in form of acceptance speech or soliciting for supports from other interested senators.”

He recalled that since 1999, there was no time leadership was imposed on any of the chambers of the National Assembly without such imposition boomeranging.

“Under PDP, it happened with the imposition of Evans Enwerem and Adolphus Wabara as Senate president at different times and also with Etteh as Speaker of the House of Representatives  in 2007 before the party eventually got it right in the 6th and 7th National Assembly, particularly in the Senate when  Senator David Mark served twice as president of the Senate through supports in form of votes given to him by fellow senators and not endorsement by party chairman.”

Ndume’s further grouse

“For the sake of cohesion and  stability among party members as regards aspirations for such positions, what was expected from the party leadership was to just zone the positions and allow contenders within each of the zones to sort it out either through consensus or shadow election.

“The 109 elected senators and 360  House of Representatives members are the constitutional kingmakers as far as emergence of presiding officers of both chambers are concerned and not national chairman of a ruling party or even the President “,he stressed .

Allegations baseless –Pro-Ahmed lawmaker

But  spokesperson of the Ahmed Lawan for 9th Senate Presidency group, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi (APC Niger North)  has described Ndume’s allegation as unfounded and bare faced lies.

Sabi, who doubles as spokesperson of the current 8th Senate in a counter press briefing  allayed fears of division within the party ahead of the inauguration of the 9th National Assembly.

He said at the dinner attended by many  APC governors and most senators-elect on the party’s platform, “the APC national chairman in a family affair tone, recommended Senator Ahmed Lawan for the position of president of the 9th Senate which was spontaneously and instantaneously applauded by the senators – elect without any dissenting voice.

“It’s not good for people to peddle lies. I was at the dinner along with other APC senators-elect, the national chairman of our party, Adams Oshiomhole, never made any announcement or submission that can be described by anybody as imposition.

“He, in the spirit of avoiding what happened in 2015, along with the presidency, gave the required direction for the party as regards the position of president of the 9th Senate  in a very persuasive and convincing tone, recommended Senator Ahmed Lawan for the position.

“The recommendation was spontaneously and instantaneously  applauded by all the APC senators- elect in attendance without anybody dissenting .

“So for Senator Ndume to later tell a story of imposition and shock to Nigerians through his media briefing, is nothing but being economical with the truth.

“What happened in 2015 will not happen because APC as a party has learnt its lesson.”

Alimekhena, deputy whip, concurs

Corroborating Sabi’s reaction in an exclusive chat with  Blueprint Weekend, deputy whip of the Senate and APC senator-elect for the 9th Assembly, Senator Francis Alimekhena (Edo North) also at the dinner, said both the presidency and the party leadership did not make any imposition, but recommendation instantly accepted by all the APC Senators -elect.

“Since the meeting or dinner  was strictly attended by APC senators-elect along with state governors belonging to the party and other chieftains without anybody raising objection to the choice of Senator Ahmed Lawan as preferred president of the 9th Senate, it is wrong for anybody to allege imposition.

“What the national chairman of the party did by making such recommendation was to provide the required direction for loyal party members to follow and not imposition.

“In any case, as politics is a game of numbers, it is also about consensus and consultations, meaning that between now and June when the 9th Assembly will be inaugurated, any aggrieved lawmaker on position being taken by the national leadership of the party on who gets what from where as regards the six geo- political zones, must have been perceived in one way or the other.

“APC will surely put its house in order before the inauguration of the 9th Assembly to avoid the mistakes of the 2015. Consultations,  I believe, are already ongoing in that direction within the party,” he said .

The Saraki angle

But even before Ndume’s rejection of the party’s position, APC and some of its elected federal lawmakers had alleged PDP and in particular, the outgoing leadership under Saraki, were  plotting to foist bipartisan leadership on the 9th National Assembly  at inauguration in June .

The media was awash with the  allegation such that  PDP caucus in the Senate issued a statement debunking the claim.

In the statement jointly signed by Senators Biodun Olujimi (Ekiti South) and Dino Melaye (Kogi West), the PDP caucus called on the APC senators-elect and their party to leave Saraki out of their leadership tussle.

The statement reads in part:” We have noted with regret and surprise how some senators who are interested in becoming the next Senate president and those seeking to occupy various leadership positions in the next Senate have been busy dragging the name of the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, into their schemes for fulfilling their ambitions.

“We believe those involved in this dirty game are only afraid of the shadow of the Senate President. Such people should know that Dr. Saraki is not interested in their plots, schemes and manipulation.

“His concern now is to continue to provide leadership to the Eighth Senate and to ensure that the Senate achieves as much as it is possible in the remaining two months of its tenure.

“Let it be known that no matter the mischief being sponsored by these spineless people, Dr. Saraki knows that it is the duty of all senators in the Ninth Senate to elect their Senate president and other leaders.

“Nobody from outside the Senate has such powers. It is also the right of every senator to aspire to that position as stated by the constitution.

“He has benefitted from this practice of senators within the chambers exercising the right. He is conscious of this fact and will not be a party to any plan to seize or interfere with the process of evolving the leadership of the Ninth Senate….”

PDP’s statement as silent warning

Obviously the coded message of the  PDP caucus to the APC senators-elect in the statement, requires them to put their house in order before the inauguration of the 9th National Assembly on Monday the 10th or Tuesday the 11th of June this year,  to avoid what happened in 2015 particularly in the Senate, since PDP senators-elect also command appreciable number of 41 for now, which is just 14 short of the expected 55 votes required by any senator interested in  any of the two presiding positions to get in a dual way contest.

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