Friday, June 5, 2015
We should all support Buhari to build a new Nigeria –Adams
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F
or 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
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
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Politics
Senate Presidency: Odds favour Saraki
As the gladiators embark on their final push for the exalted office of the Senate President, GEORGE OJI reports that former governor of Kwara State and former chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, Senator Bukola Saraki appears set to clinch the office.
Saraki
Akume
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.
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.
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 NorthCentral 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
National Assembly watchers believe that if the senators are to go
Senate President right now,
to elect the next
the political odds will certainly favour
Saraki.
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. CONTINUED ON PAGE 14