Northwest, Southeast jostle for Senate leader
Yari, Izunaso, Umahi likely contendersG5 to battle PDP for minority leaders of Senate, House
The race for the remaining principal offices in the 10th National Assembly is already gathering steam, with political leaders and other stakeholders from the Southeast pushing for one of Dr.Orji Kalu (Abia North),Chief David Umahi (Ebonyi South) and Chief Osita Izunaso (Imo West) to be considered for the position of Senate leader.
Supporters of Alhaji AbdulAziz Yari are also making a case for him to get the position as compensation for his loss of the Senate President election to Chief Godswill Akpabio on Tuesday.
Kalu and Izunaso also showed initial interest in the office but could not go far in the face of overwhelming odds against them.
All four will have Mohammed Ali Ndume (APC – Borno South) and Opeyemi Bamidele (APC – Ekiti Central) to contend with in the battle for the Senate Leader, according to an investigation by The Nation.
Mr. Peter Akpatason (Akoko-Edo) is being tipped for the HoR Leader position.
A source said political leaders from the Southeast are currently reaching out to the leadership of the Senate, APC leadership and other stakeholders to consider zoning the position of Senate Leader to the geo-political zone with a view to giving members of the party in the zone a sense of belonging.
It was gathered that the Southeast caucus in the Senate has already held exploratory talks with some party leaders on the matter.
“As at today (Friday), we have already taken a decision as a caucus to put the contest for the Senate presidency behind us and push for what we can get,” a source said yesterday.
“Not only that, we have also started discussing with leaders of our party and other stakeholders.
“We have similarly reached out to the Senate leadership. We are talking as a group and we are united on this.
“Our request is that the position of Senate Leader should be exclusively micro zoned to the Southeast to give APC chieftains and members in our zone the sense of belonging we have been clamouring for.
“It is bad enough that the zone lost out in the battle for the Senate presidency and the speakership. But it will be cheering news if we are considered for the Senate leadership seat,” the source, a senator from the zone, said.
The Nation also gathered that some prominent chieftains of the party have met in Abuja to discuss the possibility of backing one of Kalu and Izunaso for the position.
The meeting was attended by some serving and former senators, National Working Committee (NWC) members and other APC bigwigs from the Southeast.
“We will meet again. The reason for the meeting is to prevent a repeat of the situation where two or more of our people will be dragging the same position.
“Yes, we want to appeal to the leaderships of the Senate and APC not to again overlook the Southeast in sharing the remaining principal positions of the Senate.
“But first, we want to be able to speak with one voice about who we will push forward for the position we want,” an NWC member said.
A coalition of youth groups from the Southeast, S/East Leaders Forum (SELF), wants APC and Senators to support Kalu to emerge Senate Leader to compensate the zone for its perseverance in support of the party and President Bola Tinubu.
Dr. Daniel Okwuagu and Prince Nobert Ofulue, Convener and Secretary of the group respectively, said: “Nigeria must create room for inclusiveness, and this is the right thing to do.”
In the case of Yari, his chief backers for the Senate Leader are said to be essentially the same people who rooted for him in his failed ambition to be Senate president.
They argue that the Northwest should provide the occupier of the position, having given Tinubu more votes than any other region during the election.
They also believe that making him Senate Leader, Yari would be healed of the wounds inflicted on him and his supporters.
Those for the Southeast contend that it should get the position having failed to produce the Senate President.
A source said the APC will still have a say on which zone gets what.
The party, he said, may wade in the way it did in the race for the principal officers of the National Assembly.
The Nation also gathered yesterday that Ndume wishes to return to the position of Senate leader which he held between 2016 and January 10, 2017 when his colleagues in the APC impeached him.
He contested the position of Deputy Senate President in the 8th Senate and that of Senate President in the 9th Senate. He was the Chairman, Senate Committee on Army in the 9th Senate.
He equally signified his interest to contest the position of Senate President in the 10th Senate but later stepped down his ambition following the zoning of the position to the South-South by the APC.
He was the Director General of the Senate President Godswill Akpabio/Barau Jibrin Campaign organisation and successfully delivered the two candidates last Tuesday.
The case for Bamidele is based on the tradition that Senate Leader often comes from the President’s zone.
He was elected to represent Ekiti Central Senatorial District in the Senate in 2019 and was appointed Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters.
Opeyemi equally played a pivotal role in the emergence of Akpabio as Senate President.
The minority parties – Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with 35 Senators, Labour Party with eight Senators, Social Democratic Party (SDP) and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) with two senators each and All Progressives Grand Alliance and Young Progressives Party (YPP) with one Senator each – are yet to decide on how to share the minority positions in the 10th Senate.
The PDP is expected to produce the Senate Minority Leader.
Party sources said the immediate past governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, and his counterpart from Bayelsa State, Henry Seriake Dickson, may slug it out for the position.
The two of them belong to Atiku Abubakar who currently calls the shots in the party.
The party has, however, not zoned the position but is expected to do so in the coming days.
The zoning formula of the party and its alliance and agreement with other minority parties will likely determine who occupies the positions of deputy Minority Leader, Minority Whip and Deputy Minority Whip.
A source said the Labour Party with eight senators is strategising on how to occupy any of the minority positions.
Former Senate Minority Leader in the 9th Senate, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, when contacted on the phone yesterday, said he was in his village for a reception being organised in his honour.
He said he was not aware of who and who might have been penciled down for positions.
When asked to confirm rumours of his planned defection from APGA to any of the majority parties, he said: “I am not going anywhere.”
It is strongly believed that Hon Peter Akpatason from Edo State may emerge as HoR leader if the APC zones the position to the South-South.
G5, mainstream PDP in battle royal for HoR positions
The G5 group in the PDP and the mainstream party appear to be poised for a fresh battle in the contest for minority positions in the House of Representatives.
Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers) a loyalist of former Rivers governor, Nyesom Wike, wants to be the next Minority Leader, but he is facing opposition from Beni Lar from Plateau and Laori Komati from Adamawa.
Chinda was the Co-Chairman of the Joint Task 10th Assembly that mobilised members for election of Tajudeen Abass and Benjamin Kalu as Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively.
His role has not gone down well with the PDP leadership which sees him as doing the bidding of Wike.
Party sources said yesterday that his role may deny him the party’s backing in the zoning of the positions irrespective of the fact that the majority of PDP Reps recently endorsed him at a recent meeting in Abuja.
The PDP is yet to zone positions in the 10th National Assembly.
APC yet to take decision on zoning principal offices
Sources in the APC said yesterday that no decision had yet been taken on the zoning of the remaining principal positions in the 10th National Assembly.
Investigation at the party’s NWC showed that the committee is yet to take a position on the sharing arrangement.
The Nation gathered that the issue was merely mentioned at the last meeting of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) but not discussed in details.
“One of my colleagues brought the matter to our notice during our last NWC meeting, but it was not discussed,” a source said.
He added: “The inability of the NWC to be proactive was responsible for the face-off we had during the constitution of the Presidential Campaign Council.
“Again, it took Mr. President’s intervention before we had the consensus zoning arrangement for the presiding officers’ positions for the National Assembly.
“The ideal thing is for the party in concert with the President, to drive the process.
“The (NWC) that should midwife the process is leaving everything to the last minute and vacuum is not allowed in politics.”
A chieftain of the party, Clifford Ejimogu, said the zoning of the principal positions would require more considerations than the zoning of the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the 10th National Assembly.
According to him, “concessions were made during the just concluded inauguration of the National Assembly for the emergence of its leaders, the party will have to consider some of these agreements and concessions made for the smooth and free elections of Assembly leaders on Tuesday.
“For the sharing of the principal offices both in the Senate and House of Representatives, the process will require consultations with the newly elected leaders of the National Assembly on the agreement reached with other aspirants, especially those that stepped down in the two chambers.
“Nobody also knows the agreement Mr President must have struck with all the other aspirants while pushing the Akpabio/Abbas project.
“My suggestion is that the party should utilise the current adjournment by the two chambers to consult and ensure even distribution among the geopolitical zones.”
