By Omoniyi Salaudeen
There is no end in sight yet to the seeming disquiet within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over the purported zoning of some key leadership positions in the 10th National Assembly ahead of the inauguration of the two chambers.
Barring any untoward development, the new legislature is expected to be inaugurated in next month following the scheduled handover of power to the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on May 29.
By the outcome of the February 25 President and National Assembly elections, the majority of members-elect belong to the APC. While the opposition parties all together have 50 senators-elect in the Red Chamber, APC retains a simple majority with 59 members. Also, in the House of Representatives, APC predominates with 262 members, as PDP, LP, APGA control 102, 34, and four members respectively. At the same time, African Democratic Congress (ADC) and SDP have two each, and YPP only one.
Constitutionally, it is an exclusive prerogative of the National Assembly to elect its principal officers based on its internal rules of engagement. Under Order 2 of the Senate standing rules (as amended), the election of the Senate President and Deputy Senate President is by a simple majority using a closed ballot system of voting.
However, it has become an unwritten convention for the ruling party in control of the majority to rein in its members to adopt some forms of consensus arrangements, one, to ensure a seamless selection process for the principal officers of the two chambers, and two, to guarantee a harmonious working relationship with the executive.
To this end, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party has unveiled Senator Godswill Akpabio and Senator Jubrin Barau as Senate President and Deputy Senate President respectively. In the same way, Hon. Tajudeen Abass and Hon. Ben Kalu have been endorsed as the House of Representatives Speaker and Deputy Speaker for the 10th National Assembly.
A statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka, reads: “The zoning arrangement is as follows: Senator Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom) from the South-south as the Senate President and Senator Barau Jubrin (Kano) from the Northwest as the Deputy Senate President.
“Additionally, Hon. Abass Tajudeen (Kaduna) from the Northwest was selected as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, while Hon. Ben Kalu (Abia) from the Southeast was selected as the Deputy Speaker.”
Morka explained that the NWC’s decision was based on reports from consultations and meetings held with the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, and other stakeholders regarding the zoning arrangement for the National Assembly. However, the party has called for further consultation with the necessary stakeholders to ensure the support of the aspirants and members nationwide.
A chieftain of the APC in the Ogun State, Senator Olugbenga Obadara, while commenting on the development said: “I believe with 56 Senators working in tandem with other lawmakers from other political parties, we will be able to deliver our agenda to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I am sure that the parties will work together by making sure that we have a harmonious working relationship with the executive this time around. We need a mature Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. I am sure everybody will toe the line of the party.”
Though pre-emptive of the power dynamics within the newly elected lawmakers, the endorsement is said to be a smart move to forestall the experience of the 8th Assembly when Senator Bukola Saraki surreptitiously formed an alliance with the opposition parties to emerge as the Senate President and Ike Ekweremadu as Deputy Senate President. The inability of the Buhari administration to address some of the fundamental challenges confronting the nation such as insecurity, rising poverty, and economic stagnation in his first tenure had been partly blamed on the ensuing muscle-flexing between the executive and the legislature. This time around, the party does not want to fall into the same pitfall. So, for intervening in the leadership selection process in both chambers, Obadara argued, the National Working Committee (NWC) was merely trying to form a robust working relationship with the executive and the legislature so that the president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, can hit the ground running to deliver the deliverables within the shortest possible time after his swearing-in.
However, despite the purported endorsement, there is still a loud disquiet within the party, especially from those who are sympathetic to the agitation of the Southeast based on the principle of fairness, justice, and equity. For the balance of power equations, there is a preponderance of opinions in favour of the Southeast in view of the perceived marginalization of the region under the current democratic dispensation.
Among others, the Senate Chief Whip, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia), Senator Godsdwin Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara), Senator Sani Musa (Niger), Senator Barau Jibrin (Kano),Osita Izunaso (Imo) are the leading contenders for the Senate presidency. Most senators-elect believe that Southeast should produce the next Senate President in the interest of equity and fairness, expressing a preference for Kalu.
For instance, some senators-elect from the Northeast and North-central have formed a group to press home for the emergence of the former Abia governor as the next Senate President, describing him as a bridge-builder whose businesses and investments had created employment for people across the country.
According to them, the Chief Whip being the most ranking senator from the Southeast is in a better position to lead the 10th Senate, arguing that doing so would placate the region for the loss of the presidency and also calm the frayed nerves.
A Senator-elect from Northeast, who pleaded anonymity because they are not officially permitted to speak, said: “We are consulting steadily and will go public should our party fail to do what is right because we want a Nigeria built on equity, not winners take-all situation. The Southeast should take the Senate Presidency. Senator Kalu is a pan-Nigerian who schooled and mingled with the North. As a former governor of Abia State, he treated all Nigerians equally. As Senate Chief Whip, his doors are opened to all Nigerians. As we speak, he has aides from other parts of the country.
“These are tendencies similar to the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who picks and chooses people regardless of where they come from. That’s the type of team we want in today’s Nigeria and dispensation. So, we feel it is time to think about Nigeria. We should set aside any primordial and parochial sentiment.
“So, it is our hope and belief that the party will avoid booby traps. We, therefore, urge our party to be firm on this so that the opposition does not infiltrate our ranks like what happened in 2015 with Senator Bukola Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu seized control of the National Assembly.”
Also speaking in the same vein, Senator Chris Adighije, who is the Chairman, Governing Council, and Pro-Chancellor of the Federal University, Lokoja, Kogi, extolled the administrative acumen of the Chief Whip, arguing that he (Kalu) performed more than any other governor in Abia State since 1999 till date. According to him, among those aspiring for the position of Senate President, Kalu has the national acceptability especially looking at his reach in the North, Southwest, South-south, and Southeast.
Adighije insisted that the people of the Southeast region deserve to produce the next Senate president, having produced two governors and six senators.
“It will be wrong and uncharitable for anybody to insinuate that the Southeast did not work or vote for the victory of the President-elect, Senator Bola Tinubu,” he said.
The crisis in the Southeast is predicated largely on the perceived marginalization of the region. Some political pundits, therefore, believe that the current leadership should be used as an opportunity to reset and douse the tension by considering the Southeast for the Senate presidency to assuage the feeling of alienation.
“We need to avoid anything that will worsen the polarization of Nigeria. We must be sensitive in everything we do. Either Southeast should produce the next president who must be a Christian,” a chieftain of the APC in the Southwest who did not want his name in print told Sunday Sun.
His words: “We have the President-elect from the Southwest, the Vice president-elect from the Northeast, I think the right thing is to take the Senate Presidency to the Southeast and then bring the Speaker to the Northwest for balancing. That is my thinking. But from what is happening now, there are contenders from all other geo-political zones.”
According to him, if the APC leadership does not want to shift position on the zoning arrangement, people of like minds in the party can ally with the minority parties in the Senate to elect a leader of their choice. “Going by the precedence of the party or the government’s anointing, Akpabio may emerge as Senate President. But if we go by the precedence of the National Assembly, where the government or the majority party has an interest, and the members have a different opinion, it is possible for somebody like Orji to emerge as the Senate President,” he posited.