WITH election into the 109 seats in the Senate almost over, jostling for the Senate presidency and other principal offices has started.
The Senator Ahmad Lawan-led 9th Senate will cease to exist on June 10 and the 10th Senate will be inaugurated on June 11, 2023.
Currently 101 Senate slots have been filled with the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC having 56. The main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has 27 senators; the Labour Party has five; the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, has two; Social Democratic Party, SDP has two, All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA and the Young Progressives Party, YPP, have one senator each.
Already, high-wire intrigues are trailing jostling for the Senate Presidency and other key positions
Before the Senate adjourned plenary penultimate Thursday till March 14 to enable the lawmakers participate in the March 11 Governorship and State Assembly elections, which have now been postponed to march 18, there had been series of meetings especially among the ranking senators on how to shape the incoming Senate and the National Assembly at large.
According to the Standing Orders of the Senate, during the first sitting of a new Senate, pursuant to the Proclamation of the first sitting of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senators-elect shall assemble at the time and place so appointed and the business of the day would be to elect the two presiding officers, the Senate President and the Deputy Senate President.
Among the 101 senators-elect, 30 are currently serving in the 9th Senate. Ahead of the inauguration of the 10th Senate, some of the senators-elect and ranking senators from the APC, with their body language, are indicating their interest to vie for the position of the Senate President.
Returning senators
With the election over, we have senators who will metamorphose from the 9th to the 10th Senate. The 30 of the 55 serving senators who sought for re – election on February 25 and won include the Chief Whip of the Senate, Orji Uzor Kalu, APC, Abia North; Enyinnaya Abaribe, APGA, Abia South; Elisha Abbo, APC, Adamawa North; and Binos Dauda Yaroe, PDP, Adamawa South.
Others are Senators Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, YPP, Anambra South; Seriake Dickson, PDP, Bayelsa West; Abba Moro, PDP Benue South; Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe, PDP, Cross River North; Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, APC, Ekiti Central and Francis Fadahunsi, PDP, Osun East.
In the list are Senators Sani Musa, APC, Niger East; Barau Jibrin, APC, Kano North; Danjuma Goje, APC, Gombe Central; Adamu Aliero, PDP Kebbi Central; Jibrin Isah, APC Kogi East; Lola Ashiru, APC, Kwara South and Sadiq Suleiman Umar, APC Kwara North.
The rest are Senators Adetokunbo Abiru, APC Lagos East; Godiya Akwashiki, SDP, Nasarawa North; Abdulfatah Buhari, APC Oyo North; Barinada Mpigi, PDP Rivers South-East; Aliyu Wammako, APC Sokoto North; Ahmad Lawan, APC, Yobe North; Sahabi Ya’u, APC Zamfara North; Ali Ndume, APC, Borno South; Ibrahim Shekarau, NNPP, Kano; Olamilekan Adeola, APC, who moved from Lagos West to be elected to elected to represent Ogun West; Ibrahim Gaidam, APC, Yobe East and Shuaibu Isa Lau, PDP, Zamfara North.
Other ranking senators-elect
The 10th Senate will also have those who were at the Red Chamber at one time or the other and are coming back like Senator Godswill Akpabio, APC, Akwa Ibom North West who was in the 8th Senate; former Deputy Senate leader, Abdul Ningi, PDP, Bauchi Central; and Victor Umeh, APGA, Anambra Central. Chief Ned Nwoko, PDP, Delta North, a former House of Representatives member will now go to the Upper Chamber and former Governor of Zamfara State, Abdul-azeez Yari APC for Zamfara West.
Former governors going to Senate
The 10th Senate will have those who were not in the Senate but coming as former governors like former Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole, APC, Edo North; Former Ebonyi State, Governor David Umahi, APC, Ebonyi South; former Governor of Gombe State, Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, PDP, Gombe North; former Governor Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State, APC, Ogun Central; and present Governor of Niger State, Abubakar Sani Bello, APC, Niger North. They will not be ranking senators but as former governors, they will play very active roles to determine who become presiding officers. And if the rules are set aside, they may also show interest to contest for the prime positions of Senate president and deputy Senate President.
According to the tradition of the National Assembly, lawmakers serving two or more terms are elected Presiding officers.
Section 50(1a and b) of 1999 constitution as amended read: “There shall be: (a) a President and a Deputy President of the Senate, who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves; and (b) a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves.”
Also in determining who becomes the Presiding officers, the Senate Rule allows only a ranking senator to be selected for this purpose and according to the Standing Orders, “Nomination of Senators to serve as Presiding Officers and appointments of Principal Officers and other Officers of the Senate or on any Parliamentary delegations shall be In accordance with the ranking of Senators. In determining ranking, the following order shall apply- Senators returning based on number of times re- elected; Senators who had been members of the House of Representatives.”
While the Senate President and his deputy must be elected at the hallowed Chamber on the day of inauguration, other positions to be filled that day or thereafter are the Majority leader; Deputy Majority Leader; Chief Whip; Deputy Whip; Minority leader, Deputy Minority Leader; Minority Whip, and Deputy Minority Whip shall be the prerogative of the political parties, the majority party and the Minority parties.
Consultations, lobbying
Vanguard gathered that those interested in the positions especially among the ranking senators-elect are already reaching out to others, and the new ones across party lines for support even as the APC with the majority does not want to leave any stone unturned as it wants to be in total control.
According to feelers, the incumbent President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan who in 2019 scored 79 votes to defeat the former Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, APC, Borno South who polled 28 votes, is said to be interested in the same position. He hails from Yobe State in North-East geo-political zone where the Vice President-elect, Senator Kashim Shettima hails from.
Also, Senator Ndume who is currently the Chairman, Senate Committee on Army has indicated interest to contest for the position of Senate President. Ndume hails from Borno South and Shettima is representing Borno Central in the present 9th Senate.
The Chairman, Senate Services Committee and a ranking lawmaker, Senator Sani Musa, APC, Niger East, is said to be very much interested in the position. Sani who is loved by his colleagues is adjudged a team player and a welfarist. He is from the North Central which gives him a very bright chance for the position. Though he has not declared formally, sources told Vanguard that his colleagues across party lines are on his neck for the position.
The Senate Chief Whip and former Abia State Governor, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, APC, Abia South-South East is also said to be interested in the position of Senate President.
Also said to be interested are Senators Godswill Akpabio, Akwa Ibom State, South South geo- political zone; former Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, APC, Edo North, South -South zone and former National Chairman of the APC; Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, APC, Ekiti Central; Senator Olamilekan Adeola, APC Ogun West; Senator Barau Jibrin, APC, Kano North, who is presently the Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriations Senator Danjuma Goje, APC, Gombe Central.
Former Deputy Senate leader, Senator Abdul Ningi, former Zamfara Governor, Abdulazeez Yari; Aliyu Wammako, APC Sokoto North; and Sahabi Ya’u, APC Zamfara North among others are also in the race.
Averting 2015 mistake
As gathered the APC does not want a repeat of 2015 when the outgoing President of the Senate was the favoured candidate of the APC for the position of Senate President, and with a majority in the Senate, he was expected to carry the day, but with smartness and battle of wits that played out, he did not get it.
On June 8 2015, the day the formal election for Senate President was to be held, while majority of APC senators, about 50, were waiting for President Muhammadu Buhari who had invited them to a meeting with him at the International Conference Centre, Senator Bukola Saraki and other Senators of the APC moved into the National Assembly complex, At the end of the day, 57 Senators loyal to Saraki, most of them PDP members, unanimously elected him after he was nominated by Senators Dino Melaye and Sani Yerima.
Getting support of colleagues
Another determining factor for clinching the position of Senate President is that out of 109 Senators, the person would require 55 votes and going down memory lane, since the inception of the Fourth Republic for a Senate President to enjoy the office and stay longer, he must be a product of the parliament and not the party or the Executive.
… in 1999
In 1999, the then ruling PDP had 69 Senators before the election of the Presiding officer and as at that time, 60 senators had already endorsed late Senate President Chuba Okadigbo from Anambra State for the position of Senate President, With the large number, it was already clear that he was going to get the position as the anointed candidate, but there were issues overnight as the senators made a U-turn that Okadigbo would be too radical for the then President Olusegun Obasanjo to manage.
At this point, the Executive pushed late Evan Enwerem from Imo State for the position and the selling point was that he was a gentleman who will not give problems to the Executive, but it was difficult to sell him to the Senators, and at the end of the day, the Executive introduced the famous “Ghana must Go”.
He did not last long as senate president because senators considered him as being too close to the Executive.
At the end of the day, the Senators pushed Enwerem out after staying for nine months because he was a product of the Villa and they now elected their own Senate President, this time, the late Chuba Okadigbo.
With the emergence of Okadigbo, a product of the parliament, the then President, Obasanjo felt slighted that his man, Enwerem was removed and to remove Okadigbo, the Executive came up with some allegations and harassment against him, varying from invasion of his Apo residence with the Police, searching for the Mace, but he survived it as a cat with nine lives.
To ensure that Okadigbo, the lawmakers’ Senate President was removed, there was an allegation of Apo street light contract which was an anticipatory contract that was awarded without money as he was expecting that the money would come later and that was how the Executive got him, there was friction between him and the then President, he was never liked by the Villa, his colleagues keyed into the project of removing him because they were starved of funds.
After Okadigbo, an unlikely figure in the person of Anyim Pius Anyim from Ebonyi State emerged as the Senate President. The Villa initially wanted Adolphus Wabara, Abia State but because the Executive wanted Wabara, the Senate brought in Anyim. He later fell apart with the Villa and was removed in 2003.
In 2003, Wabara came in as the Senate President, he was seen by his colleagues as a Villa man, he did not hide it as he was very loyal to Obasanjo, he did not enjoy the confidence of his colleagues and when he had issues with the Villa over alleged N55 million bribe for budget, he did not have the support of other Senators and that was an ample opportunity for them to allow him fall.
From the record, Presiding Officers survive more if they are products of the parliament. When Wabara was removed in 2005, the Presidency also wanted Senator Ike Ekweremadu from Enugu State, but the Northern Senators Forum led by late Senator Idris Kuta from Niger State settled for Senator Ken Nnamani from Enugu State and the Presidency concurred.
Nnamani had it smooth with his colleagues and the Executive till the end until the third term saga which was killed by the Media.
By 2007, during the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, the Senate President position was zoned to the North Central and deputy Senate President to the South-East with Ekweremadu clinching the position.
At that time, governors forum wanted one of their own in the person of Senator George Akume for the position, but the Senators had settled for Senator David Mark and he won, stayed till 2015, then Senator Bukola Saraki from the same North Central took over from him in the 8th Senate.
Now the battle of wits has started again. It is to be seen how the battle will be fought, won and lost.
