By yemi Yusuf
As the Senate prepares to resume sitting next Tuesday, there are indications that the remaining principal officers will not be emerging on that day.
President Bola Tinubu is yet to name his preferred candidate and the All Progressives Congress, APC, has not zoned the positions yet.
As was done during the election of the presiding officers of the Senate and the House of Representatives, the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party is expected to name the party’s nominees for the Senate Majority Leader, Deputy Majority Leader, Chief Whip and Deputy Chief Whip.
That microzoning announced on May 8, 2023 led to the emergence of Godswill Akpabio (Akwa-Ibom/South-South) as President of the Senate; Jibrin Barau (Kano/North-West) as Deputy President of the Senate; Tajudeen Abbas (Kaduna/North-West) as Speaker; and Benjamin Kalu (Abia South-East) as Deputy Speaker.
Political analysts are of the opinion that if the party was led to intervene and chose these presiding officers whose positions were purely elective, it is clear that the president, as well as the party, would have their way in these other positions which are traditionally based on the party‘s decisions.
As yet the APC hierarchy have not been able to resolve on the party’s choices and the next meeting of the National Executive Committee, NEC, is not until July 11. The meeting is reportedly holding after intense pressure was brought to bear on the party chairman Senator Abdullahi Adamu who had been reluctant to call NEC for sometime now. The July 11 meeting will be the second NEC meeting to be convened by Adamu more than a year after the assumption of office.
A day before then the meeting, on July 10, the party’s National Caucus is slated to be held.
On the agenda for the meeting is the selection of the remaining principal officers among other issues especially if the Senate postponed its plenary.
The decision for both meetings were taken after the dates were approved by President Tinubu who had been given three options to pick from.
Another indication that the next plenary of the Senate slated for Tuesday may not in fact produce the principal officers is the fact that renovations are currently going on at the National Assembly. If the next sitting indeed holds it will be in a temporary chamber which is not ideal for the entire process for the selection of principal officers.
A polarized Nass
However whenever the process finally does take place it would not be rancour free considering the manner in which the Senate is now polarized.
Already, the fight for the position of Senate Majority Leader has divided senators from the North and South, especially the South-West, which insists on producing the Senate Majority Leader.
The New Diplomat gathered that the leadership of the APC is still waiting for President Bola Tinubu to instruct the NWC to send names of his choices for the aforementioned positions to be announced by the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio during the next plenary of the Senate.
Some of those jostling for positions include the former Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, APC, Borno South; immediate past Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, APC, Ekiti Central; and Senator Abdulfatai Buhari, APC, Oyo North who are determined to be majority leader.
The party has not taken a decision on which geo-political zone of the country should produce the Senate leader and his deputy and there are indications that the President would not be giving that position to the North.
The push by some South West Senators to produce a Yoruba Majority Leader is vigorously being countered by some Northern Senators who want the North to produce the Leader arguing that if a South West Senator becomes the Majority leader, it would create more tension in the already tensed 10th Senate following the last election of Presiding officers where former Zamfara State Governor, Senator Abdulaziz Yari from the North-West lost to Akpabio from the South-South.
In the Senate, the principal office positions for the ruling APC are the Majority Leader, Chief Whip, Deputy Majority Leader, and Deputy Majority Whip.
The opposition parties produce Minority Leader, Minority Whip, Deputy Minority Leader and Deputy Minority Whip.
With 59 senators, the APC is the majority party in the Senate while the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP is the major opposition party with 36 senators. The other parties with slots in the Senate are the Labour Party, LP, 8; New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, 2; Social Democratic Party, SDP, 2; All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, 1; and Young Progressives Party, YPP, 1.
In essence, the six opposition parties have altogether 50 senators as against APC’s 59.
The four geo-political zones that are yet to produce principal officers are the North-East, North-Central, South-East and South-West
In accordance with the tradition of the Senate, geo-political zones that did not produce the Senate President and the Deputy, are expected to occupy the key positions, especially in the ruling party.
As it is, the South-South and North-West are out of the equation having produced the President of the Senate and the Deputy.
Atiku, Wike’s camps battle for Minority Leader
In the PDP, there is a battle between the camps of the immediate past Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, and the 2023 Presidential Candidate of the party, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku over who should be the Senate Minority Leader.
While the party and Atiku are rooting for former Speaker of the House of Representatives and immediate past Governor of Sokoto State, Senator Aminu Tambuwal (PDP, Sokoto South) for Senate Minority leader, Wike wants Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe (PDP, Cross River North) for the position and this is causing tension in the party.
A strategic move towards blocking the choice of PDP for the Minority leadership positions of the Senate and the House of Representatives was made, last Thursday when Wike held a marathon meeting with Senate President Akpabio and Barau at the National Assembly, it was gathered.
Wike, who was in black suit, left the Senate wing of the National Assembly at about 6:30pm in the convoy of Senate President Akpabio , Deputy Senate President of the Senate Jibrin Barau and other Senators like Salihu Mustapha (APC Kwara Central) , Jibril Isah (APC Kogi East ) as well as the recently appointed Senior Special Assistant, National Assembly Matters (Senate ) to President Tinubu, Senator Abdullahi Abubakar Gumel.
According to a source at the meeting, Wike’s plan with the leadership of the Senate, is to have a minority leader from his camp in the PDP.“Having assisted APC to win the Presidential election in Rivers State in February, supported the aspirations of the now elected four presiding officers of the 10th National Assembly, getting his loyalists among the principal officers from PDP is his plan now. He is very serious with the plan and is getting the required support from the leadership of the National Assembly as well as membership of the other minority political parties in both the Senate and the House of Representatives,” he said.
He may yet succeed as some senators elected on the platforms of the six opposition political parties have concluded arrangements to move against Atiku Abubakar’s bid to deliver Tambuwal as Senate Minority leader.
The aggrieved senators have vowed to resist Tambuwal’s emergence in the way and manner they fought against the alleged imposition of Akpabio as Senate President. No fewer than 46 senators voted against Akpabio. Their choice was former Governor of Zamfara State, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, APC, Zamfara West, who lost to Akpabio.
Some of the Minority Senators who spoke after a meeting on Wednesday said that indications are clear that with what Tambuwal did against the PDP, he would use the minority leadership position to negotiate and apologize to President Tinubu whom he betrayed after making him Speaker of the House of Representatives.
According to them, Tambuwal has a record of throwing his political allies under the bus at critical moments to promote what they described as his selfish interest.
The Senators resolved to vote for any ranking Senator other than the former Sokoto State Governor because “he is on a mission to use the minority leadership position to negotiate for self-preservation and use the platform to run for the Presidential election in 2027,” said a source.
“You can trace the major political activities of Tambuwal in the past decade. He seems to have a record of treachery and betrayal of close friends and allies as he did to Jonathan, Wike, Tinubu himself and several others.
“In 2019, he went against his party, the PDP, and a sitting president to rubbish the PDP zoning arrangements just because it favoured him. When he became speaker with the support of opposition elements (that is Tinubu, Buhari and other leaders), he used the platform of the speakership to effectively rubbish the presidency of Johnathan and the PDP and decamped to the APC and negotiated to be governor.
“Buhari, Tinubu, Wammako and others rewarded him for his treachery against the PDP, but his ambition could not be accommodated so he betrayed Wammako, Tinubu, Buhari, aligned with Atiku and came back to PDP with the APC mandate that was given to him with the hope of running for presidency.
Meanwhile, Senate President Akpabio while reacting to reports that Senators are angry with him for appointing Christians and southerners as his Chief of Staff and Deputy, advised that it was too early to read primordial sentiments to the only two appointments he has made, saying that he is a highly detribalised Nigerian.
A statement from the Media Unit of the Office of the Senate President read: “The President of the 10th Senate is a highly detribalised Nigerian with strong conviction in the potentials of our diversities. The needless agitation is a distraction that should have no place in our current efforts at rebuilding a society that is strong in growth and opportunities.”
