APC’s Return To Internal Dissension
IT is not known whether the APC national chairman, Oshiomhole, consulted the relevant caucuses of the party before making his pronouncement on March 18 when the party hosted its Senators-elect to a dinner at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.Most party faithful, including the newly elected lawmakers believe that the rush to announce a sharing formula for the National Assembly showed lack of tact, especially given that such approach provided the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and APC dissidents the opportunity to turn the table against the ruling party in 2015.
With the recent development the ruling party seems to be on edge while waiting for an authentic sharing formula for the House of Representatives since the attempt to decree the post of Speaker to the Southwest has elicited much antagonism. It could also be said that the emotive pronouncement on the zoning of the principal offices of the National Assembly has stoked another possible return to internal dissension in the ruling party.
As even the activist national chairman would have come to realise, there is need to explain the crucial considerations that would underpin the zoning of the floor functionaries of the federal legislature. Is it to be based on balance and spread, vote tally at the recent poll or strategic positioning for national accommodation?
It is the thinking that vote haul could have made the party to settle for Northeast as the geopolitical zone of choice for the Senate President that the North Central Young Patriots asked: “Why is the party suddenly shifting the goal post when it comes to zoning the Speakership position by considering the Southwest that performed less than the North Central and even already (occupies) the number two position of a vice president?”
The precipitate approach adopted by Oshiomhole leaves the impression that either he was in a hurry to pander to the whims of an entrenched godfather in the party or oblivious of the limitations of partisan supremacy on the affairs of the legislature, particularly as they relate to election of prefects.What makes the party chairman’s early dabbling into the zoning conundrum intriguing is that it seemed to be dependent on persons and not geopolitical zones, thus creating the internal combustion that could spill over in the next two months.
Warts In The Senate
WAS the decision to propose Senator Ahmad Lawan for the post of Senate president an attempt to force-feed the candidate on the Senators to derive a moral triumph over those who altered the initial preferences of the ruling party in 2015? Could it be that the current Senate Majority Leader was chosen because of his pliable disposition and predilection to echo the heart and mind of the presidency on most issues?
What if the main originators of ‘Lawan for Senate President’ since 2015 have their minds set on cancelling out the possibility of Northeast contesting the presidential ticket in 2023? It could be recalled that in 1992, during similar jostling for the presidency of the Senate, some Southwest stakeholders moved for the election of Senator Iyorcha Ayu as the president of Senate.At the end of the day, after Ayu’s election that opportunity was ostensibly thrown up to argue for the emergence of late Chief M. K. O. Abiola as the presidential candidate of Social Democratic Party (SDP) during the Ibrahim Babangida transition to civil rule programme.
Alternatively the move could be a strategic forward thinking to pave the way for the emergence of Northeast presidential candidate in 2023 or even before, then depending on what transpires at the Presidency.Although the Senate leader refused to be drawn into suggestions that considerations for the 2023 APC presidential ticket would ultimately determine which zone, between north central and northeast, that gets the 2019 Senate presidency, he disclosed that the ambition to become President of Senate “is not a personal decision to take leadership. This is 2019 and we want to deliver on the agenda of building a Senate and National Assembly that works for all citizens.”
However, chairman of Lawan for Senate President Campaign Organisation, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North), explained that the group was back on its pursuit for the full implementation of the progressive agenda, which was botched somehow in the recent past, saying “we did not fail.”He stated that when the group’s aspiration was cut short in June 2015, “we accepted it in our strides. Now, we want a Senate that works for the benefit of Nigerians; we have looked among ourselves and considered Senator Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan as the proper person to steer the ship of the incoming Senate.”
It looks like other stakeholders with eyes on the 2023 APC presidential ticket have resolved to stonewall Lawan’s emergence in the belief that it is a project hatched by former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, especially as speculations are rife of a plan to have Lawan pair up with Senator Remi Tinubu on the senate presidency.
There have been subdued talks about plans by contending forces in APC to have the 2023 presidential ticket allotted to zones that have not as yet taken a shot at the Presidency, that is Northeast and Southeast. While the Tinubu group insists that the ticket should be zoned to the South, another group led by Kaduna State governor, Nasir El Rufa’I insists that the north reserves the right to have the final say on the issue of Buhari’s successor in the APC.
It is expected that these issues could pave the way for a surprise emergence of a candidate from North Central to emerge as president of Senate, thereby stalling the zone’s clamour for the Speakership of House of Representatives.Recently the Kaduna State governor was seen alongside former Gombe governor, Senator Danjuma Goje, visiting President Buhari, a move analysts interpret as possible plot to scuttle Lawan’s emergence by throwing up multiple candidates from Northeast. Knowing that Senator Ali Ndume does not seem to be flagging in his ambition to contest the position, which he narrowly lost on June 9, 2015 the entire scheme might end up in favour of a candidate from North Central.
It could be safely argued that despite Oshiomhole’s pronouncement on Senator Ahmad Lawan, nothing seems cut on stone regarding who or which zone eventually fills the position of Senate president, because the business would be conducted by Senators-elect whose minds might be set on diverse interests.
Presidential Higgledy-piggledy
WHERE does President Buhari stand on these gesticulations about the emergent 9th National Assembly politics? That is the worrisome aspect of the ongoing conversations on the leadership structure of the 9th National Assembly.Being present when the APC national chairman pronounced on the zoning of principal offices in the forthcoming federal legislature, does it mean that President Buhari gave his blessing? Or, has the President decided to adopt the ostrich stance that paved the way for the magic of June 9, 2015?
If the President insists that the business of NASS election remains the exclusive preserve of lawmakers, why are some party stakeholders in a hurry to coral the lawmakers towards a patently undemocratic method? Does it mean that the APC leadership did not learn any useful lessons from its four years of fiasco at the hands of the current Senate?The fact that leaders of the ruling party are not basing their decisions on empirical data sourced from ability and understanding of the aspirants to convey the philosophy of function of the APC government shows the lack of preparedness for good governance. If elections are over and politics still preoccupies the thinking of party leaders that could be a recipe for another cycle of executive versus legislature scuffle.
What happens on the floors of the upper and lower chambers of the National Assembly would reveal how far the ruling party has come, as well as the nature of governance in the next four years. Will partisan considerations trump competence, fairness and national interest? That is the ultimate test before the 9th NASS as it elects the floor
