Juliana Taiwo- Obalonye, Fred Itua and Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

The decision by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to adopt Ahmad Lawan as consensus candidate for the office of the senate president is generating rip In order to avoid a repeat of what transpired in 2015 in which the opposition party determined who emerged the senate president, President Muhammadu Buhari, governors on the platform of the APC, party leadership and senators-elect of the party had agreed on a consensus candidate.

At the meeting, President Buhari had challenged the in-coming ninth National Assembly to do things differently from the outgoing senate to ensure smooth implementation of programmes that would transform the country.

“What happened in the last Senate and so on is regrettable because I still feel it shouldn’t take seven months to pass a budget. You have a serious job ahead of you,” he pleaded.

But the decision to endorse Lawan as sole candidate has not gone down well with some lawmakers elected on the platform of the party.

Senators who have shown interest in the senate plum office include Abubakar Goje, Adamu Abdullahi and Ali Ndume.

A ranking senator, who spoke to Daily Sun in confi- dence, said what transpired during the meeting came to many senators-elect as a shock. He said they had expected that the meeting was called to give everyone the opportunity to brain- storm on how the leader- ship of the ninth Senate would emerge.

According to him, many

of them left the meeting unhappy, following the unexpected adoption of the current senate leader, by the national chairman of APC, Adams Oshiomhole, without due consultation. He said they were not allowed to speak or make contributions. The lawmaker said another meeting was held as soon they left the Villa at the residence of one of the candidates for the Senate presidency position. He, however, did not disclose its outcome or their next line of action.

However, former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume has vowed not to step down for Lawan. He confirmed that he nor other contenders, were not consulted before Lawan was adopted by the leadership of the APC.

Ndume warned that there might be a repeat of 2015 if senators were not allowed to elect their pre- siding officers. He recalled instances of how senate presidents who were imposed on the parliament were rejected.

“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.

 “At the meeting, Oshiomhole just threw it to us that Lawan will be the senate president. I don’t believe that it is the position of Mr. President. Before I joined this race,  I consulted with Mr. President. He gave me the go ahead. I consulted with (Asiwaju Bola) Tinubu and he gave me the go ahead. That was immediately after the primaries, before the elections. I did that to avoid what happened in the past when Tinubu told me that I came late. I have respect for the president and Tinubu. But I am 60 years old. I stand for truth and do what is right. The reason 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….”

According to him, a candidate of APC is normally chosen by one of three means- consensus, indirect elections and direct primaries. Reacting further, he said: “I feel pained that even in small places, you don’t im- pose leaders on children. They have their natural way of choosing their
own. In fact, in traditional institutions where kings emerge, they are elected. There are kingmakers. In our case, senators are the kingmakers. Who owns the loyalty on behalf of the beneficiaries? Is it senators or Adams Oshiomhole? We were shocked.

“We are supposed to be given the chance to elect our president since it has been zoned. Allow senators from the North East to decide and consult on who they want. I wrote to the

party that I want to run. I deserved that honour to be invited and told not to contest for the position. I wasn’t given that honour.

“I was thinking that since Lawan has indicated his interest and Goje is also indicating his interest, as well as Abdullahi, we were supposed to be consulted. We deserve that respect and honour.

“The constitution is clear. It says the Senate shall elect its president and deputy. Like I said, my decision to contest for the position of the Senate president is not personal. Even my colleagues encouraged me to run. Not just the elected ones. They said I should vie for the position.”

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said the positions of president of the Senate,

Speaker, House of Representatives, Deputy Senate President and deputy speaker were the exclusive preserve of any political party.

In a statement by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, it noted that every elected member of the National Assembly had the constitutional right to contest to be the leader of the Senate or House, ir- respective of their political affiliation.

“It is, therefore, laughable and amounts to empty grandstanding and self- delusion for President Muhammadu Buhari and the factional National Chair- man of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, to posture as if the presiding offices and committee chairmanship are exclusive rights of the APC.”