The PDP caucuses in the two chambers of the National Assembly were plotting to benefit from the squabbles in the APC by teaming up with aggrieved elements in the APC.
The aim of such an alliance would be the emergence of a speaker and a senate president different from those candidates approved by the APC leadership.
The PDP hoped that by ensuring its choices emerged as the speaker and the senate president, it would “snatch” the control of the eighth National Assembly from the APC.
A member of the PDP caucus in the House, who pleaded anonymity, told Punch that, “Although we are not disputing the fact that the APC should produce leaders of the National Assembly, we will ensure that those who will emerge are people we prefer, not the choices of the APC leaders.
“By doing that, we will snatch the control of the National Assembly from them, just as the APC controlled the House through Aminu Tambuwal.”
The APC senators that have been mentioned as having interest in the senate presidency include Bukola Saraki (Kwara Central); George Akume (Benue North) and Ahmad Lawan (Yobe North).
Based on the recent general elections, the APC will have 60 members in the eighth Senate while the PDP will have 48. Election into the Delta Central Senatorial District is still outstanding.
Senate presidency candidates reach out to senators-elect
Investigations revealed that the camps of Saraki, Akume and Lawan had commenced aggressive lobbying and strategic calculations to outsmart one another in order to occupy the seat.
For instance, while the Saraki camp is currently seeking the support of the new PDP, which he led alongside Governor Rotimi Amaechi and others, to defect to the APC, Akume is relying on the goodwill he is enjoying from the leadership of the APC, particularly, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
The Lawan camp, on the other hand, believed that the North-East had been short-changed in the political office sharing since 1999.
The camp has the backing of the APC senate caucus in the zone. It was learnt that the North-East sees the current development as an opportunity to demand for its own share of political offices.
North-East APC Senate caucus may form alliance with PDP senators
Sources said Lawan’s group had already reached out to the PDP caucus in the senate comprising the incumbent Senate President, David Mark, and 47 other members, with a view to forming a formidable alliance that would make their dream become a reality.
Senators from the North-East were said to have promised the PDP caucus that they would work towards the emergence of one of them as the deputy Senate President if their dream of producing the Senate President materialised.
“The leadership of the party is doing everything possible to ensure that the zoning is done in such a way that it will be acceptable to all concerned,” said Senator Ali Ndume.
The North-East, South-West, South-South and North-West are all eyeing the Speakership.
But views expressed by party decision makers at a meeting of the National Working Committee of the APC a week earlier, narrowed the search to the North-East and South-West.
However, two APC towering political figures, from the North and the South-West, are said to have consistently disagreed in the course of negotiations, as each of them insists that the seat must go to his zone.
“What is going on now is a battle between the North and the South-West; each wants to be in full control of the next government.
“The North already has the President and they are likely to have the Senate President. The position of the South-West is that, if you add speaker to what they (North) have, it is too much power going to one part of the country.
“That is why the South-West is insisting on having the speaker in addition to the office of Vice-President; indeed, a key APC financier has nominated a particular candidate for the job and has advised all other spirants from the zone to drop their ambition for the candidate,” a senior party official told Punch.
PDP is plotting to cue into the “burble that will burst” in the event of the losing zone becoming aggrieved, to “file behind a neutral candidate that is competent and experienced” as the speaker.
The PDP has about 140 lawmakers in the incoming House, as against the APC’s 200 lawmakers.
“If the disagreement in the APC continues unresolved, there won’t be a guarantee that they will give block vote to the candidate of the party. They will be divided.
“It will be easy for the PDP to woo the losing group for a team work to clinch the speakership, even if the candidate has to be an APC member,” said a source knowledgeable in the calculations of the PDP.
We are watching wrangling in APC – PDP caucus
Deputy House Majority Leader, Leo Ogor, confirmed to Punch that his caucus was watching the wrangling in the APC with interest.
Ogor said, “We are not going to be idle in the PDP by just sitting and watching. No, we will play a major role in how the speaker will emerge.
“The much I can say is that nobody or party can impose a speaker on us. We agree that the party with the majority is the APC, but members will have to elect their speaker.”
South-South intensifies campaign for speakership
Also, the South-South has intensified its campaign for the speakership position to be zoned to the region.
The South-South has two ranking APC lawmakers in the House going to the eighth Assembly, namely Mr. Pally Iriase, and Mr. Peter Akpatason.
A group, the Coalition for Justice and Fairness, made a case for the South-South. It expressed surprise that nobody has mentioning the zone in the sharing of political offices in the incoming government.
Coordinator of the group, Muraina Ahmed, said excluding any zone from the power equation was a breach of Section 14 (3) of the 1999 Constitution, which provided for the federal character principle.
Ahmed said, “For the records, the APC, as the majority party, has the conventional privilege to zone the offices of Senate President, Deputy Senate President, Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House.
“The nutty issue that will test APC’s abhorrence of impunity, which was one of the major reasons Nigerians voted for the party, is the zoning of the listed leadership offices in the National Assembly.
“To be fair, there are extenuating circumstances that may hamper the even spread of legislative offices enumerated above to all the six zones in Nigeria.
“For instance, the South-East has no APC senator at all and has not produced any ranking APC member of the House of Representatives.
“The South-South has one senator who is a fresher and does not meet the ranking criterion. But the South-South has four members – elect for the House of Representatives, two of whom are ranking, with one of them, Pally Iriase, parading impeccable credentials and legislative leadership experience.
“This is a golden opportunity that the APC must not miss. In the spirit of fairness and adherence of federal character, the position of Speaker, House of Representatives should be zoned to the South-South geo-political zone.”
