The Senate
By Emmanuel Aziken
Not since 2007 has emotion over the leadership of the Senate been stoked as it is now. Then the men in combat were Senator David Mark and the then Senate greenhorn, Senator George Akume both of them being from the same geopolitical zone and the same political party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
But how time has now changed. Akume remains in the game even today, but he has changed party platform and is today, the Senate Minority Leader, being the leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC caucus in the Senate.
However, that is where it ends as his aspiration to again contest the presidency of the Senate in his new party is under severe attack, both from within and outside his geopolitical zone. The most potent challenge to him until recently was Senator Bukola Saraki, the former governor of Kwara State who is also the chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology.
The momentum with which Senator Saraki came into the contest immediately after the National Assembly elections on March 28 was stupefying and it was no surprise that he was quickly embraced by a number of groups, the most notable, being The Like Minds who have claimed endorsements from the North Central and a number of former governors now entering the Senate.
It was as such no surprise that the Saraki momentum seemingly weighed down the Akume supporters. Saraki’s enjoyment of the limelight is now seriously challenged by the emergence of strong support for Senator Ahmad Lawan, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts.
While Saraki has The Like Minds clapping for him, Lawan is being bolstered by the enthusiastic support of the newly formed Unity Forum, a group of senators and senators-elect who believe in him.
The Unity Forum according to sources is projecting its candidate on the basis of the recent assertion by the president-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari that he was not backing any of the candidates as some news reports had tended to portray.
Buhari’s assertion that the best candidate should emerge and that he was willing to work with any Senate President irrespective of tribe, language or creed is one that has inevitably compelled the senators and senators-elect to rethink their permutations and is something that the members of the Unity Forum are now projecting to make an advantage of.
Inevitably, the development has now projected Senators Saraki and Lawan as the main contenders for the job.
Remarkably, the Unity Forum at the weekend stated conditions that the new Senate President should have to succeed.
A senator-elect from the North-Central who is a member of the forum said: “He or she must have recorded high levels of integrity both in his or her public and private life. He or she must never have been convicted of corruption or implicated in any corruption cases.
“He or she must not have any allegations of corruption or corruption charges pending against him or her. Where such exists, the nominee in question must first ensure that he or she conclusively clear himself or herself of such allegations using existing official channels before the process of his or her nomination gets on the way, including before being presented to the National Assembly for consideration.”
“He or she must also be prepared to declare his or her assets publicly as this later requirement aligns with the recent comments credited to Buhari which goes further to affirm his commitment to ensuring that this constitutional responsibility is discharged not only by the President-elect, but, also, by everyone that would be nominated to work with his administration.
“This must be done conscientiously and made open to public scrutiny in line with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act, 2011…”
Continuing on the conditions that the new Senate President should have, he said such a man or woman “must be a popular choice, scandal in the chamber, has no scandal in the chamber and above all, must be corruption-free…”
That the group is not in support of the ambition of Senator Saraki was obvious as he said that the North-Central zone had gotten the position through various persons including Senators Iyorcha Ayu, Ameh Ebute, David Mark and also occupied the office of Deputy Senate President through at least three different persons namely, Senators John Wash Pam, Haruna Abubakar and Ibrahim Mantu.
While noting his own North-Central’s occupation, he also pointed that the Northeast, which contributed the second largest votes to the APC in the presidential election was yet ever to occupy any one of the offices.
“The Northeast has always been loyal to the opposition and this can be gleaned from the pattern of voting from 1999. The Northeast has been marginalised. The only high-ranking political appointments from the zone was in 1999 with Atiku and during the brief administration of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua when Babagana Kingibe was the SGF.
“Lawan has cognate experience…he is the captain of the first 11 from the Northeast. This is the time to support the Northeast by giving them a sense of belonging in the Nigerian project.”
“Lawan is known to speak fearlessly on the floor of the Senate whenever there are issues that touch on the common man…What his opponents count against him, his friendship with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the chamber should rather be seen as a plus.
“During consideration of federal budgets, he would always argue in favour of raising capital expenditure and reducing recurrent because, to him, when infrastructure is put in place, it would engender We know all these because we follow his contributions in the floor. Whenever the occasion demanded, Lawan would put aside friendship and agitate that the common good be done.”
With Lawan’s now strident strikes the party is now faced with the difficult option of choosing between the two zones and two leading candidates and it is not impossible that the APC could eventually throw the game open to all, if not, then to avoid the prospects of the Tambuwal Effect.
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