All good things, they say, must
end. The Eighth Senate was adjourned Sine Die on Thursday to mark the end of
the legislative business of the upper chamber. It was a sobering day for the
high and mighty in the Senate chamber with a lengthy valedictory session to cap
it all.
It was also a day to say goodbye
to the Senate with all its attractions, a day to begin to plot how to face the
world outside the confines of the National Assembly complex. For some, it was a
day for chest beating and back patting. For others, especially those who
suffered defeat in the February 23, senatorial election, they sported the full
weight of a lost election like garments.
Although most of the senators laboured
to put up the ambiance of camaraderie in the chamber while the session lasted,
it was obvious that many were lost in thought of the life after the Senate.
Some could not conceal their emotion. Many failed to attend the session
apparently for lack of what to say.
The big question is: what’s next
for some of the heavyweights in the Eighth Senate who fell by the wayside
during the election?
Where do bigwigs like Abubakar
Bukola Saraki, David Mark, Godswill Akpabio, George Akume, Rabiu Musa
Kwankwaso, Ahmed Yerima, Magnus Abe, Shehu Sani, Gbenga Ashafa, Tayo
Alasoadura, John Owan Enoh and others go from here?
It may be difficult to decipher
or decode what the future holds in stock for these movers and shakers of the
Eighth Senate. What is certain, however, is that some of them are not finished
politically. Some are already licking their wounds, while those in the All
Progressives Congress (APC), who lost their deposit to return to the Senate,
may be lucky to clinch ministerial and/or board appointments.
As a matter of fact, some of them
who are of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) extraction may return to the
drawing board to plot a comeback. Some will play opposition politics as a means
of survival.
SARAKI
For the two- term former governor
of Kwara State, the future looks uncertain and the environment looks
unfriendly. He lost his state to the APC. It was a humiliating defeat. The
state rejected everything he stood for or represented.
For 16 years, he had called the
shots in the state. His words were laws, his wishes were commands. Today, a new order is in place. Those opposed
to him over the years are in charge. He is now a political reject. Can he
bounce back in the state? It will be interesting to watch Saraki leading the
opposition in Kwara.
Going by the fluid nature of
Nigerian politics, he may succeed in staging a political comeback in the state.
But what becomes of him at the national level? Soon after his defection to the
Peoples Democratic Party last year, he was made the National Leader of the
party, being the highest political office holder in the party. Will he retain
the position now that he holds no political office?
Those who know him say his
ambition to rule the country as President still burns high in him. Although
some describe the ambition as an uphill task for him, others see him as one
politician who knows how to surmount obstacles. Can he mount a strong campaign
for President as a non-office holder? Can he match former Vice President Atiku
Abubakar, a veteran of presidential contest? Will an Aminu Tambuwal, for
instance, queue behind him? Will he still have the clout to pose any serious
challenge? The next four years will either make or completely render him irrelevant
politically.
DAVID MARK
He declared his retirement from
active politics voluntarily. Some say with his wealth of experience, the Benue
South former Senate President will always be relevant in the scheme of things
in the country. Some describe him as the cat with nine lives.
Mark, who side-stepped the
legendary banana peel in the Senate for eight years, is said to have weighed
the options and decided to take a deserved bow from the Senate. Others see him
differently. They believe he is in his twilight years politically.
On the national plane, he may not
be a factor in his party. In Benue where the PDP is in power, his alliance with
the governor, Senator Suswan, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu and others secured victory for
his party. If the working understanding lasts, his relevance is assured. If it
derails, he may be seen and heard but ineffective.
GODSWILL AKPABIO
For Akpabio, who represented Akwa
Ibom North West, the coast is not clear. He vowed in his speech during the
valedictory session that he would be part of the Ninth Senate. Akpabio is in
court to retrieve what he described as his “stolen mandate.” How he is going to
do it is yet to be seen.
But it is also said that Akpabio
is already negotiating for a ministerial slot. Any way it goes, the “uncommon
Senator” may still play a role. His home state is a hostile environment.
GEORGE AKUME
Senator George Akume holds the
enviable record as the first elected governor of Benue State to spend two terms
in office from 1999 to 2007. He followed that up with a victory in the contest
for the senatorial seat of Benue North-West and eventually became the minority
leader of the upper chamber.
In the jostle for the seat of the
Senate President during the build-up to the Eighth Senate, he was a frontrunner
before he stepped down for Ahmad Lawan when it looked like the latter was the
candidate favoured by the party’s hierarchy until the Dr. Bukola Saraki pulled
the rug off his feet by suborning members of the opposition Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) to emerge the Senate President.
If he had hoped to revive his
ambition of becoming Senate President in the Ninth Senate, that too came
crashing as he lost his bid for re-election Orker Jev, a former member of the
House of Representatives and candidate of the PDP.
But he is in court to challenge
his defeat, believing that it is not over until it is over. If he loses his bid
to retrieve his mandate, he will hinge his hope on securing a ministerial slot
at the centre. Otherwise, he may spend the next four years in the winter.
RABIU KWANKWASO
Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso was
the first governor of Kano State in the Fourth Republic, elected on the
platform of the People’s Democratic Party. After ruling the state from 1999 to
2003, he lost his re-election bid to Ibrahim Shekarau in the 2003 governorship
elections.
But he returned as governor in
2011 for another four-year term that ended in 2015 when he contested the
presidential primaries of the APC but lost to President Muhammadu Buhari.
His bid for the presidential
ticket of the PDP also fell on its face as he lost it to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar
who also lost the election proper to President Muhammadu Buhari. Although
Kwankwaso was handed the PDP structure in the state as a way of compensation,
his son-in-law who he backed for the governorship seat also lost.
His next line of action remains
unclear, particularly as he has since fallen out with his former deputy and
incumbent governor of the state, Abdullahi Ganduje. The defeat of the PDP
governorship candidate in Kano State, observers say, may force him to retreat
to plan a fresh political onslaught in order to remain relevant.
SANI YERIMA
Former Zamfara State governor,
Alhaji Sani Yerima, is popular for championing the cause of Sharia by being the
first governor to adopt it as the official mode of administration in his state.
He held sway as the governor of the state for eight years from 1999 to 2007
before winning election to the Senate.
Having been in the Senate since
2007, he was not a candidate in the last National Assembly elections. But if he
had hoped to retire to the state with his party man in the saddle as governor,
fate decided otherwise as the Supreme Court declared all the elections won by
his party in the state null and void.
With the nullification of APC
elections in Zamfara State, new leaders have emerged. How he will get around
the troubling situation remains uncertain. How far he can also go in the
circumstance is uncertain if his plan was to retire to Zamfara to play
godfather politics.
He may, however, be aiming for a
ministerial slot from his party at the centre if only to sustain his political
relevance in the next four years.
GBENGA ASHAFA
Senator Gbenga Ashafa, a civil
servant-turned-politician, was in the Senate for two terms representing Lagos
East.
Although he was visible in the
APC in Lagos and in the Senate, that was not enough to earn him another term.
He lost the party’s primary to four-term member of the Lagos State House of
Assembly, Bayo Osinowo.
Observers expect him to remain in
APC and remain visible. They also see him venture vigorously into business.
TAYO ALASOADURA
He was in the Senate for just one
term representing Ondo Central.
He won election into the Senate
on the platform of the APC in 2015 but fell out with Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.
Having lost on both fronts, Abuja
and Ondo, his next move remains a matter of conjecture.
MAGNUS ABE
Senator Magnus Abe was one of the
governorship aspirants whose dreams collapsed in the just concluded general
elections. His bid to secure the governorship ticket could, however, not
materialise as he engaged some of the party’s leaders in a running battle.
Convinced that the governorship
primary of the party did not follow a due process, he dragged the party to
court to challenge the candidacy of Tonye Patrick-Cole who had emerged the
governorship candidate of the APC through the party’s direct primaries.
He heaved a sigh of triumph when
the Supreme Court ruled the candidacy of Patrick-Cole null and void. All the
while, there were allegations in the APC circle that Abe was doing the bidding
of Governor Nyesom Wike and other PDP stalwarts in his battles with the
leadership of APC.
Even now, there are strong
speculations that the Rivers East senator may defect to PDP to actualise his
ambition. It is also being speculated that the governorship slot of Rivers
State will be zoned to his area in 2013 to pave way for Abe to run.
With his rumoured closeness to
Governor Nyesom Wike, Abe may exploit the situation to oil his political
campaign for 2023.
JOHN OWAN ENOH
The erstwhile senator from Cross
River Central was one of the aspirants who had a shot at the governorship slot
of Cross River State.
Although he came from the
academia to bestride the dark space of politics, Enoh weathered the storm to
emerge the governorship candidate of APC. Unfortunately, he lost the election
to the incumbent governor and candidate of the PDP, Ben Anyade.
A lot of people believe that Enoh
could return to the ivory tower and use it as a base from where he would make
another shot at the governorship seat when the opportunity beckons again.
SHEHU SANI
The senator from Kaduna Central
was one of those who were not in good terms with the governors of their states.
Between him and Governor Nasir el-Rufai, there has been no love lost, hence his
defeat at the poll did not come as a shock to many.
His running battle with el-Rufai
is seen by many as his undoing. But Sani is one that many would see as a cat
with nine lives.
Having failed to pick the APC
ticket, he defected to the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) from where he hoped
to realise his ambition of re-election into the Senate. However, he lost.
His next line of action may be
difficult to predict, considering that he came from the background of an activist and may yet return to his comfort
zone. A lot of people believe that activism runs in the vein of the Kaduna
Central senator.
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