There is tension in Abuja as 109 Senators-elect and 360 House of Representatives members-elect are expected to vote and choose new leaders for the 10th National Assembly.
Despite President Bola Tinubu’s meeting with the lawmakers at the President Villa, Abuja, to seek their support for the chosen candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress for the leadership of the 10th National Assembly, there are indications that the contestants are still not convinced of their chances of victory when the lawmakers vote today.
The APC preferred candidates are Godswill Akpabio, Jibrin Barau, Tajudeen Abbas and Benjamin Kalu for Senate President, Deputy Senate President, Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.
With the refusal of other candidates to withdraw from the race and back the party’s anointed candidates, it was learnt that the Akpabio camp has become uncomfortable with the Senate’s standing rule that stipulates secret voting, which makes it impossible for ‘kingmakers’ to monitor and influence Senators-elect in their favour.
Although the top hierarchy of the APC, including members of the National Working Committee and state governors may be present at the plenary, the rule makes it difficult for them to achieve little in the task of influencing voting.
The Senate rule states that “when two or more senators-elect are nominated and seconded as Senate President, the election shall be conducted by electronic voting or voting by secret ballot, which shall be conducted by the Clerks-at-Table using the list of the Senators-elect of the Senate, who shall each be given a ballot paper to cast his vote, with the proposers and seconder as Teller.”
The standing rule further states that, “the Clerk of the Senate shall submit the result of the voting to the Clerk of the National Assembly who shall then declare the Senator-elect who has received the highest number of votes as Senate President-elect. (i) When more than two Senators-elect are nominated and seconded to be Senate President, the division shall be conducted in the manner prescribed in Order 3(3) (e) (ii) herein and the Senator-elect who has received the highest number of votes shall be declared the Senate President- elect.
“In the event of two or more Senators-elect receiving the highest but equal number of votes, the name of the candidate having the smallest number of votes shall be excluded from subsequent divisions; a further division shall take place. This voting shall continue until one candidate receives a simple majority of votes of the Senators-elect. Such a person will then be declared Senate President-elect.”
Also, with the amendment of the House of Representatives rules to allow the Deputy Clerk of the National Assembly to conduct the election in the absence of the clerk, which means that the elections could be conducted simultaneously, the stage is set for an unpredictable outcome.
Traditionally, the clerk of the National Assembly conducts the election in the Senate and later proceeds to the House of Representatives to conduct the election of the Speaker and the deputy speaker.
In 2015, the emergence of Abubakar Bukola Saraki from Kwara State (North Central) as Senate President paved the way for the emergence of Yakubu Dogara from Bauchi (North East) to emerge as Speaker of the House of Representatives because the then ambition of Ahmad Lawan from Borno State (North East) had been thwarted. Thus, it became easy for lawmakers from the North East in the House of Representatives to withdraw from the camp of Femi Gbajabiamila and pitch tent with Dogara’s camp, having lost the opportunity to produce the Senate President.
But the same scenario may not play out today, as elections would take place at the same time in both chambers.
A candidate for the position of Senate President, Abdulaziz Yari from Zamafara State, has seen his campaign gather momentum in the last few weeks despite the endorsement of Akpabio by the APC.
Also, the outgoing Deputy Speaker, Idris Wase, who is vying for the position of speaker, has insisted that he would take the race to the wire.
Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, who was re-elected to represent Ekiti Central Senatorial District, has said that the APC committed no wrong by nominating its preferred choices for the leadership positions in the Senate and House of Representatives.
Bamidele said the protests against the choices of the party were expected, adding that the party has a duty to ensure proper dialogue and carry every zone along.
“There is no doubt that the party has taken a decision and it’s a decision that cannot be said to have gone well with everybody or everyone involved. In every democracy, the minority will always have their say while the majority will have their way. As far as I am concerned, I believe that what is playing out is a situation where some interests that feel not being carried along in the decision made by the party are protesting, which is normal.
“Protestation is an integral aspect of democracy itself. What the APC has done in zoning positions to different political zones is not an exclusive preserve of the party. It’s not anything unusual; it’s not anything unheard of. It is consistent with global best practice in advanced democracies around the world.
“Back home in Nigeria, definitely, even the minority parties will still do their zoning because principal offices also exist for minority parties. Out of the 10 principal positions, four of them will go to the minority; which is the minority leader, deputy minority leader, minority whip and deputy minority whip. As for me, the fact that our party has come up with a zoning formula and some people are not happy about it is still part of the game. What is most important is the ability and sincerity of the leadership of the party and the President, as the leader of the party, to ensure proper dialogue among different stakeholders and negotiate where it is necessary to ensure that no geo-political zone is left behind and no strong or relevant stakeholder is left behind. The party is doing that,” Opeyemi said.
