NASS Principal Officers: APC NWC to take decision on zoning this week
THE All Progressives Congress (APC)
National Working Committee (NWC) will take a position on zoning of principal offices of the National Assembly,this week, the Nigerian Tribune learnt on Monday.
A national officer of the party who is a member of the NWC who confided in the Nigerian Tribune said the statutoryorgan of the party agreed last week to come out with a zoning template at a meeting to hold on Wednesday (tomorrow).
He said: “We are going to have a meeting this week. It was mentioned last week
but we all agreed that we continue this week, since we couldn’t take a position last week,” he said.
The principal offices to be filled in the Senate include: Senate Leader, Deputy, Chief Whip and Deputy Chief
Whip.Lawmakers scheming to fill the positions are from the South West, North Central, North East and the South East with the main contenders from an emerging power bloc in the Senate, the Stability Group that promoted the Senators Godswill Akpabio- Barau Jibrin ticket for Senate President and deputy Senate President.
A member of the Forum who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune said the members
were anxious, waiting for the party national secretariat to unveil its zoning arrangement.
He, however, noted that the South-South and NorthWest senators are automatically precluded from the
race having produced Senate President, Godswill Akpabio and his deputy, Barau
Jibrin.“The APC NWC will decide the zones that will fill the position. No one wants to jump the gun. We are waiting for the official pronouncement.
But, what I can tell you is that for the Senate, the South South and North West
are out having got Senate president and Deputy Senate President.
“For the Senate Leader, the North-Central may not get it because one ranking lawmaker from the zone is already being positioned for the office of House Leader.”
Multiple sources told Nigerian Tribune that two of the ranking senators from
the south-west, the zone of President Bola Tinubu: Senator representing Oyo North, AbdulFatai Buhari and Senator representing Ekiti Central, Opeyemi Bamidele are in the race for Senate Leader.
The source who mentioned that senator representing Ogun West and
Chairman Senate Committee on Finance in the ninth Senate, Solomon Adeola Olamilekan, is also a ranking
Senator from the south west however said the Ogun West Senator is eyeing the juicy slot of Senate Committee
on Appropriation and not interested in Senate Leader, even if zoned to South-West by the Abdullahi Adamu led NWC.
“Senator Buhari is the most senior among the ranking Senators from the southwest. Opeyemi Bamidele on the other hand, has to his profile, the Chairman, Southern Senators Forum.”
From the North Central eyeing Senate Leader are Senator representing Niger
East, Sani Musa and the Senator representing Kwara North, Sadiq Umar.
A serving senator told the Nigerian Tribune that neither of the senators from the North-Central would become Senate Leader as there is an agreement before the election of presiding
officers of National Assembly to concede the Leader of the House of Representatives to a ranking lawmaker
from the region.
“It was part of the horsetrading between Tajudeen Abbas and certain lawmakers in the G-6 from the North
Central. You know whatever plays out in the Senate would affect the House of
Representatives. The same hoes for the Senate,” the source noted.
North-East: Ndume, Goje, Danjuma go for the broke If the office of Senate
Leader is zoned to the North East, two ranking Senators from the region will slug it out for the exalted seat:
Senator representing Borno
South, Ali Ndume and former Gombe State governor who equally won last February election to represent Gombe Central, Danjuma Goje.
Between the duo, checks revealed that Senator Ndume appears highly favoured among his colleagues.Ndume once occupied
briefly, the office of Senate Leader during the Bukola Saraki eighth Senate.
The former Chairman, Senate Committee on Army was also an aspirant for the
seat of Senate President before he withdrew from the race after the intervention of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Senator Ndume was to emerge as Director General of the Stability Group, the
forum of Senators that promoted the Akpabio- Jubrin ticket.
A source told the Nigerian
Tribune that members of the
group see Goje as an outsider in the camp of the power
bloc, having worked for the
failed ambition of Senator
representing Zamfara West,
AbdulAziz Yari.
“Ndume, apart from the
Vice-President, Kashim Shettima, mobilised Senators from the North for Akpabio. He disabused the minds of
his colleagues, particularly the new comer to the Senate who were being swayed by the narrative from Senator Yari that the North will be shortchanged with Akpabio in the saddle.
If the APC zoned to NorthEast, Ndume will get it,” the source argued.
