- Ranking senators from N’Central, N’West, S’East, N’East in game of wits
- Ndume, Kalu, Buhari, Musa, others eye senate leader
- APC lawmakers jittery that positions may be hijacked
Lawmakers have intensified jostling for the chairmanship and membership of key standing committees of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, following the successful inauguration of the National Assembly and the emergence of the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio; his Deputy, Jibrin Barau; Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas; and Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu.
When the parliamentarians resume plenary on July 4, the next battle is the selection or election of the principal officers who are leaders of the majority and minority caucuses in the chambers.
They are the Majority Leader, Deputy Majority Leader, Majority Chief Whip, Deputy Majority Chief Whip, Minority Leader, Deputy Minority Leader, Minority Whip and Deputy Minority Whip.
The Point learnt that the positions would now be shared among the North Central, North West, South East and the North East geopolitical zones.
All the six geo-political zones in the country have been adequately represented in the top positions so far decided in both the executive and legislative arms of government following the successful conclusion of the 2023 general elections.
President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima are from the South West and North East geopolitical zones respectively, while the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, is from the North Central zone.
Sources revealed to The Point that some lawmakers had been lobbying the new leaders of both chambers for committee positions.
It was gathered that several members of both chambers, who lost their bids to become principal officers on June 10, have joined those seeking committee appointments.
The 9th Senate had a total of 69 committees performing oversight functions over various government agencies and parastatals.
Sources revealed that the Appropriations Committee is the most coveted, followed by the Oil and Gas Committee.
A source disclosed that Senator Adeola Solomon (APC, Ogun West) was being positioned for the chairman of Appropriations Committee in the camp of the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, while Senator Sani Musa (Niger East) emerged in the camp of Senator Abdulaziz Yari (APC, Zamfara West), who lost to Akpabio.
Senator Jarighe Jarigbe (PDP, Cross River North), who is a protégé of Akpabio, is said to be eying one of the oil and gas committees, either upstream or downstream.
Sources explained that lawmakers considered committees that oversee ministries, departments and agencies of the Federal Government with enormous influence and huge budgets as ‘juicy’.
They include committees on Appropriations, Finance, Public Accounts, Defence (Army, Navy and Air Force), Police Affairs, National Security and Intelligence, Customs and Excise, and Ports and Harbours, among others.
The Committee on Public Accounts is the only recognised by the 1999 Constitution, with its chairmanship reserved for the opposition.
The committee derives its powers from the fact that it oversees the office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, which audits the accounts of all ministries, departments and agencies of the Federal Government.
The committee has the power to uphold audit queries or recommend their nullification after grilling heads of the MDAs.
The committee, which exists in the Senate and the House, is a line item in the annual budget of the National Assembly, meaning that it draws its funds from source, separate from the Senate and the House.
The Committee on Appropriations sits over the annual budget of the Federal Government, putting the government and all its MDAs under its control.
However, going by the ranking rule, Senator Abdulfatai Buhari is said to be the most ranking senator in the South West. He was in the House of Representatives in 2003 before he was elected senator in 2015, 2019 and 2023.
He is being followed closely by Senator Solomon Adeola, who was in the House of Representatives in 2011 and moved over to the Senate in 2015, and was reelected in 2015 and 2023
In the South East geopolitical zone, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu and Osita Izunaso are the two most ranking senators. Both of them had been to the House of Representatives and the Senate twice.
However, Kalu was in the House of Representatives in 1993 while Izunaso was in the green chamber in 2007.
In the North Central, Senators Sani Musa (Niger East) and Saheed Umar (Kwara North) are the two leading ranking senators. Both of them had been to the Senate twice, 2019 and 2023.
The most ranking senator from the North East geopolitical zone is Ahmad Lawan, who just concluded his tenure as the Senate President, followed by Ali Ndume.
However, sources said that Lawan might not accept to be the Senate Leader, saying “It will now be left with Ndume, who had played a similar role during the era of Bukola Saraki’s Senate presidency.”
Ndume however had to contend with Senator Danjuma Goje for the exalted position.
Ranking senators, who spoke on conditions of secrecy were of the view that if the leadership of the All Progressives Congress would adhere strictly to the ranking system in choosing the principal officers, one of the senior senators listed above would emerge as Senate Leader.
They noted that the three others would be appointed as deputy Senate Leader, Chief Whip and the Deputy Whip respectively.
However, it was also gathered that members of minority parties in the two chambers of the National Assembly had begun moves to fill the remaining principal offices in the Senate and House of Representatives.
Members of the minority caucus, who are more in number than those in the ruling APC, are drawn from seven opposition parties.
The parties are the People’s Democratic Party, Labour Party, New Nigerian People’s Party, All Progressives Grand Alliance, Social Democratic Party, African Democratic Congress and the Youth Progressive Party.
In the Red Chamber, the APC has 59 senators; PDP, 36, LP, eight; SDP, two; NNPP, two; YPP, one; and APGA, one.
The PDP has 117 members in the House of Representatives; LP, 35; NNPP, 19; APGA, five; SDP, two; ADC, two; and the YPP, one, totaling 181 opposition members. Those in the APC are 178.
A member-elect on the platform of the PDP from Taraba State, Ismaila Maihanci, died on April 22, 2023, to make up the 360th member of the House.
However, a party chieftain at the APC secretariat, who craved anonymity, expressed fear that the body language of the National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, and the indifference of the party might prove costly if concerted efforts were not made to fill up the remaining principal offices.
“I fear that the levity with which Adamu and the NWC are taking the principal offices may cost the party those seats. Once those positions are hijacked, I don’t see how another zoning arrangement can be imposed on the lawmakers,” the source said.
