New PDP Senate President Set To Emerge, As APC Lawmakers Rejects Lawan
kogiflame.com
There have been intense horse-trading by Returning Senators from both parties for the seat of Senate President ahead of the swearing-in of the 9th National Assembly.
Those vying for the position have since made their intension known and have upped their game by lobbying their colleagues, and those that matter in the party, to get their support.
So far, four notable APC Senators have indicated interest for the coveted seat. They are Senate Leader, Ahmad Lawan, (APC, Yobe), Mohammed Ali Ndume (APC, Borno), Abdullahi Adamu (APC, Nasarawa) and Mohammed Danjuma Goje (APC Gombe).
The four contenders have been trying to outdo one another, in an attempt to clinch the seat. Though Goje and Adamu, both former two-term Governors of Gombe and Nasarawa States, respectively, have not been visible in the Media about their ambition, Lawan and Ndume have attracted much attention in the contest.
The two former Governors, appeared to be doing their underground work silently, but Lawan and Ndume are believed to have adopted both open and secret tactics, in getting the support of their colleagues.
For example, Lawan had eight days ago, publicly declared his intention to contest for the seat, during an interaction with Journalists, in Abuja, while Ndume has since granted different interviews expressing his readiness to contest.
However, Goje and Adamu are keeping theirs under wraps, limiting their campaigns to only a few powerful Senators-elect, and others that matter. The duo are said to be calculating very well, before coming out publicly in full force.
The APC has so far garnered comfortable majority in both Chambers of the National Assembly, with 65 Senators-elect, and over 211 Reps-elect. While both Lawan and Ndume were going about their campaigns openly, a new twist was added to the contest on Monday night, when the APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, told President Muhammadu Buhari during a dinner, that the party has recommended the Senate Leader for the job.
Lawan was APC’s Candidate for the seat, in 2015, when the party got majority of the seats in the Red Chamber. However, he could not make it, as the current Senate President, Bukola Saraki, got it after going into an alliance with the opposition PDP.
The recommendation of Lawan seemed to have bolstered him, but it apparently did not go down well with Ndume and his likes, who said that Oshiomhole’s position did not receive Buhari’s blessing, and that it was unconstitutional to impose a Candidate on the Senators.
