The President-elect, Bola Tinubu, has said he has no
preferred candidates for the leadership of both the Senate and the House of
Representatives in the 10th National Assembly.
Tinubu, represented by the Vice President-elect, Kashim
Shettima, disclosed this at the meeting with new members-elect to the National
Assembly in Abuja.
A member-elect for Bungudu/Maru Federal Constituency of
Zamfara State, Abdulmalik Bungudu, revealed this to our correspondent shortly
after the meeting.
Bungudu, who spoke in the Hausa language, revealed that
Tinubu told attendees that he had no preferred candidates for any of the
principal offices of the 10th NASS.
He quoted Shettima as saying, “For now, he (Tinubu) said he
doesn’t have anybody that he prefers to have as Senate President or Speaker,
but consultations are going to continue to get the way out for the party and to
also ensure the party emerges victorious in the forthcoming governorship and
Houses of Assembly elections.”
Meanwhile, lawmakers newly elected on the platform of the
All Progressives Congress, on Monday, in Abuja, said the party would zone
principal offices only after the conclusion of the governorship and state
Assembly elections holding on Saturday, March 18.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi
Gbajabiamila, among other lawmakers-elect, disclosed this to our correspondent
after a meeting between senators-elect and House of Representatives
members-elect with the party leadership held at the Banquet Hall of the State
House, Abuja.
The meeting, which comes barely two weeks after the February
25 presidential and National Assembly elections, is the first between the
newly-elected members of parliament and the party.
It followed rife speculations that the APC would use the
medium to speedily zone principal offices in the two chambers of the 10th
National Assembly to avert a repeat of the 2015 scenario where the party lost
grip of the legislature despite retaining the most number of seats in both
chambers.
However, the Speaker of the House, Gbajabiamila, told our
correspondent that the conversation did not entail any discussion about the
NASS leadership because the elections were not over.
Gbajabiamila said, “On the issue of zoning, we did not talk
about it because we’re not there yet. We have an election coming up this
weekend. And we need to ensure everybody goes back home, roll up their sleeves
and get their hands dirty.
“I was in Lagos and I could not leave Lagos because I was
campaigning for my party.
“We’re not there yet; we need to complete the victory before
we start talking about the leadership of the National Assembly. The reason we
didn’t discuss zoning is because we all agreed to tarry for a while until we
finish the elections.”
Similarly, the senator representing Niger East Senatorial
District, Mohammed Musa, said, “This is not the right time to discuss zoning.
All we need now is to consolidate our victory. We have won the presidential
election and we should be able to take at least 30 states.”
On his part, Senator Mohammed Ndume, who will represent
Borno South in the 10th NASS, said the party leadership urged the
lawmakers-elect to shelf their ambitions in the meantime and deliver their
states to the APC come March 18.
“The party appealed to NASS members-elect to play down the
leadership issues and focus more on ensuring that we take the election battle
to the end. And that is to ensure that we win our states,” Ndume said.
Earlier at the meeting, the National Chairman of the APC,
Senator Abdullahi Adamu, warned the senators-elect and Reps-elect that the
National Working Committee of the APC would not allow a repeat of the NASS
leadership tussle that created ‘bad blood’ among lawmakers and the executives
in 2015.
Adamu’s address is coming a few days after disgruntled
members of the NWC called for the reformation of the party and his resignation
to balance the contentious Muslim-Muslim ticket of the incoming administration,
which has generated tension before the 2023 elections.
In his speech, Adamu admitted that the ‘civilian coup’
executed by the duo of Senator Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara to emerge as
Senate President and House of Representatives Speaker in 2015 was still
haunting the ruling party.
He said, “The news media, especially the social media, are
full of speculations of some of you jostling for leadership positions in the
national assembly.
“This is not unusual. People have the right to struggle for
positions of leadership for which they believe they are eminently qualified.
“But we, in the National Working Committee of the party are
not comfortable with the tone adopted by those who seek those offices. Those
offices are not tribal or sectional rights and must not be so portrayed.”
He drew his audience’s attention to what happened to the
party and the National Assembly in 2015 when some members of the federal
legislature chose not to wait for the decision of the President and the party
before sharing those offices.
“It created bad blood within the party and between the
executive and the legislature. I urge us not to regress.
“We would like to offer a word of caution to all of you in
this regard. It may be good to start early but sometimes, when you start too
early, you jump the gun and court unintended consequences that may cause nasty
divisions in the party and thus affect its health.
Leadership position at the national level is a delicate
matter and must not be approached with levity or lack
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