Senate Presidency: Odds favour Saraki

For the first time since the commencement of the current democratic dispensation in 1999, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, will relinquish the office of the Senate President to the opposition political party, which has now become the governing party, the All Progressives Congress, APC. This follows the poor outing of PDP at the March 28, 2015 Presidential and National Assembly elections. Before this time, PDP had always won the majority seats in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Convention
Without any prejudice to the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the convention in both chambers of the National Assembly had always been that the party with the majority seats produced the presiding officers.
The only offices, which are recognised by the constitution apart from the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives are those of the Senate Leader, and Senate Minority Leader, in the Senate and in the House of Representatives, the House Leader and the House Minority Leader, which shall be occupied by the majority party and the minority party respectively.
So, conventionally, and because the PDP had been the party with the highest seats in both arms of the National Assembly, the party had always produced the presiding officers in both chambers of the parliaments.
In the 16 years that the PDP had been the party in power, it was only in 2011 that the zoning policy of the party was successfully challenged by some members of the party’s elected representatives.
That incident took place in the House of Representatives, where Hon. Aminu Tambuwal and Emeka Ihedioha successfully rallied elected members of the opposition political parties to effectively move against the official position of the PDP and both emerged the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House respectively.
It must be made explicit here that section 50(a) and (b) of the constitution vest the responsibility of electing the presiding officers of both chambers of the National Assembly solely on the senators and the members.
However, following the outcome of the March polls, where PDP lost the majority strength in both chambers of the legislature to the now ruling APC, and also going by the convention and norms of the National Assembly, all eyes are now on the APC to produce the next leadership of the eighth Assembly.
Position of APC
By convention and in keeping with the zoning policy of the ruling party, over the years, the issue of which geo political zone of the country produces which principal officer of the National Assembly was usually determined by the party leadership. Although this is not a constitutional provision, it is a practice that has been applied over the years to reduce political tensions in the quest for those political offices.
However, for the first time in the history of this country, particularly since the commencement of the present democratic dispensation, the ruling political party, (in this case), the APC has come out to state publicly that it does not have any zoning policy to regulate election of the principal officers of the National Assembly.
To add fillip to that pronouncement, President Muhammadu Buhari also came out publicly to declare that he has no special interest in who emerges as the winners as the Senate President and Speaker of both chambers of the national congress. APC National Working Committee, NWC, came out initially to zone the major offices of the National Assembly, but the party later jettisoned the idea and thus threw the contest open to all contestants.
Notwithstanding APC’s official non-meddlesome position, there have been subterranean attempts by some APC chieftains to use their positions to influence the outcome of the struggle for the political offices.
The gladiators
Senator George Akume: Benue State APC NWC initially came out to announce that it had zoned the position of the Senate President to the North- Central geo political area of the country.
Following this development, Senator George Akume was among the first senators from that zone to announce his intention to vie for the office. Akume, a former two-term governor of Benue State and the Minority Leader in the Senate campaigned vigorously for the office.
At the initial stage, particularly following the zoning of the office to the North-Central by APC NWC, it was a straight battle between Akume and former governor of Kwara State, Senator Bukola Saraki. Aside from show-casing the factor of being the Minority Leader, Akume also made a very strong case for the office of the Senate President, based on his ranking status in the red chamber.
Akume was first elected to the Senate in 2007, at the expiration of his tenure as Benue State governor. Indeed, this is the second time Akume was taking a shot at the office. Right from the first time he got elected into the Senate in 2007; Akume immediately challenged Senator David Mark, who was favored for the office then.
In what appeared to be a contest between David and Goliath, Akume was roundly crushed by Mark in the election that took place that year.
It was following the action of Akume that the Senate immediately amended its Standing Orders to introduce the principle of ranking to govern elections into its principal offices. With all the positive factors and the potentials of clinching the position of the Senate President in the current race, it was surprising that Akume later chickened out of the struggle, and instead choose to pitch camp with Senator Lawan Ahmed to run as the Deputy Senate President.
This move by Akume has since been roundly criticised by political watchers of the National Assembly as very negative to his political future.
Lawan Ahmed: Yobe North
Lawan joined the race for the Senate President, following the position of the APC leadership that it had not zoned the office to any particular geo political zone of the country. Lawan, who like David Mark has the enviable record of being in the National Assembly since 1999, is flaunting experience as a strong factor for the office.
First elected to the House of Representatives in 1999 and re-elected again in 2003, he was elected elected into the Senate in 2007 to represent Yobe North senatorial district.
A graduate of Geography from the University of Maiduguri, Lawan proceeded to the Cranfield University, United Kingdom, where he obtained Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy, PhD, degrees in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System, GIS, and Remote Sensing in 1991 and 1996 respectively.
In his quest for the Senate Presidency, Lawan said he believes strongly that the position should be occupied by somebody from the North-East zone of the country to compensate the area for the sufferings its people have undergone as a result of the devastating impacts of the activities of the Boko Haram sect.
He said conceding the office to the zone will give the people of the area a sense of belonging to the project Nigeria. Unfolding his vision recently for the office, Lawan explained that he “want to provide 21st century senate presidency; a leadership that will ensure that we have a by-partisan approach to legislative business. I will bring incorruptibility and credibility to the administration.” He added: “I have learned to be a team player.
I like to work on the basis of consensus. This is required to build a bridge of understanding among political parties in the National Assembly. Good governance must be supported by the National Assembly. There must be service delivery.” Perhaps it is his strong belief in the principles of consensus that Lawan has since being crisscrossing the length and breadth of the country to seek support for this project.
Part of the efforts of that consensus led to the understanding reached between Lawan and Akume to enter into a political alliance, which saw Akume foregoing his presidential ambition for Lawan, who he (Akume), will be pairing with in a joint ticket as Deputy Senate President.
About a fortnight ago, a group, which goes by the name, Senate Unity Forum, SUF, came out to publicly endorse Lawan for the Senate Presidency and Sen. George Akume as his deputy. Spokesman of the group, Senator Barnabas Gemade, while addressing newsmen at the recently held retreat, organised by APC for all its elected senators at the Ibeto Hotel, Gariki, Abuja, said: “We the SUF comprising senators- elect from various states have met, held extensive discussions and resolved to support Lawan as Senate President. “Kindly take this to be our collective decision in the best interest of our party, APC and our dear nation Nigeria.”
The resolution was signed by Gemade, as the spokesperson as well as Lawan and Akume. Only last week, the group addressed newsmen at the National Assembly, where it claimed that it had the support of 40 senators-elect of APC backing Lawan’s candidacy.
It also alleged that it enjoyed the support of the majority of the 49 senators of the PDP. Political observers believe that what is working against Lawan’s candidacy is the alleged tacit support he enjoys from the leadership of the APC, particularly from Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who many senators are opposed to because of his selfishness and meddle someness in the affairs of the new Senate.
Lawan’s ambition is also suffering some setbacks because of the alleged backing he is receiving from the out-going Senate president, Senator Mark, criticised by many senators as trying to impose his replacement on them.
Bukola Saraki: Kwara Central
Saraki has never left anyone in doubt of his desire to preside over the affairs of the Senate since his election to the red chamber in 2011. Notwithstanding that he was a first timer to the Senate; Saraki was made the chairman of Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology.
The former governor of Kwara State and past chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, NGF, however distinguished himself in the Senate, particularly with his motion, which exposed the fuel subsidy scam in the country in 2011.
As the Chairman of Senate Committee on Environment, Saraki also distinguished himself through intensive oversight of the activities of the oil companies that degrade the environments of their host communities. Saraki was however, the arrowhead of all the moves that threatened the Senate Presidency of Mark in the outgoing seventh Senate.
First, he was behind all the efforts by some PDP senators to decamp to the then opposition APC in the Senate in 2013, following the formation of the party. His strategy was that with the defection, the then opposition APC would have the majority number that would reverse the leadership of the Senate in APC’s favour, where he had positioned himself to become the Senate President.
For the greater part of the life of the seventh Senate, Saraki expended his legislative time mainly outside the Senate chamber; at the lobby, where he engaged the likes of Senators Danjuma Goje, Gombe Central; Abdullahi Adamu, Nasarawa West and Ali Ndume, Borno South, in plots to effect the change of the leadership of the Senate.
Unfortunately, such machinations could not see the light of the day. Saraki entered the race for the Senate President immediately after the March 28 National Assembly polls. Unlike his other competitors, Saraki has invested more massively in the project.
He is quite aware that he does not enjoy the support and endorsement of APC leadership for the contest and he does not make any efforts to win the favour of the party leadership for the project either. Perhaps because Saraki understands quite clearly that the contest for the office of the Senate President will ultimately be decided by the senators themselves on the floor of the Senate, his strategy has been to curry the support of the senators and not those of APC chieftains. He was the first among the contestants to embrace almost all the first timers to the Senate.
This is an unassailable strategy, particularly considering the fact that about 70 per cent of members of the 8th Senate are made up of first timers. Saraki has also foraged into some returning members to add to the support he already enjoys among the new senators. Only recently, 35 senators elected on the platform of the APC out of the in-coming 59 senators-elect from the party endorsed Saraki’s candidacy for the Senate Presidency.
The group, under the umbrella of ‘Like Minds Senators of APC’, while briefing newsmen at the retreat for APC senators at the Ibeto Hotel, Abuja, explained that their choice of Saraki was predicated on the lawmaker’s integrity, competence, discipline and leadership skills.
Senator-elect, Dino Melaye, who addressed the media on behalf of the, ‘Like Minds Senators of APC’ said: “Of the 59 senators of the APC, 35 of us present here today hereby reaffirm our collective commitment and resolution to ensure that the candidature of Senator Saraki as the Senate President of 8th Assembly sails through.
“We have also resolved that the office of the Deputy Senate President be zoned to the North East. “Senators of the like minds are here today at the retreat organised by our dear party, APC, which is meant to equip and empower senators-elect of the 8th Assembly to prepare them toward the challenges ahead. We commend the leadership of our party for this timely and well-focused exercise.”
National Assembly watchers believe that if the senators are to go to elect the next Senate President right now, the political odds will certainly favour Saraki.