Akpabio, Kalu and others begin battle for Senate presidency

Ahead of the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly in June, some elected senators began pushing for the presidency of the upper house.

Candidates for the top jobs in the Senate and House of Representatives are expected to begin declaring their interest in the positions they have chosen once the National Assembly resumes its electoral recess on 14 March.

Besides the Presidency of the Senate, other positions that will be filled include the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Deputy Speaker of the Senate as well as Principal Offices.

Key leaders are the leaders of majority and minority caucuses, which are largely based on the configuration of members in a chamber.

They include the Majority Leader, Deputy Majority Leader, Majority or Chief Whip, Deputy Whip, Minority Leader, Deputy Minority Leader, Minority Whip and Deputy Minority Whip. These 10 men and women run the business of each of the Senate and the House.

According to parliamentary tradition, non-ranking members - legislators who serve two or more terms form the leadership of parliament.

INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu revealed during a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners in Abuja on Saturday that elected senators would receive their return certificates on Tuesday, while their counterparts from the House of Representatives would receive theirs on Wednesday.

So far, according to the INEC chairman, the All Progressives Congress has won 57 senatorial seats, the Peoples Democratic Party has won 29, the Labor Party has won six, while the New Nigeria Peoples Party and the Social Democratic Party got two each.

In contrast, the Grand Alliance All Progressives and the Young Progressive Party won one seat each.

In the House of Representatives, the APC won 162 of 360 seats, the PDP won 102, the LP 34 seats, the NNPP 18, the APGA four, the SDP and the 'ADC, two each, while the YPP won one seat. .

The PUNCH findings indicated that lobbying for major offices had begun in earnest with parties and elected senators working to prevent a repeat of the 2015 experiment where Senator Bukola Saraki was elected President of the Senate.

The majority of APC senators, including the party's preferred candidate, Ahmed Lawan, were at a meeting with the APC leadership and chairman, Major General Muhammadu Buhari ( retired) when Saraki was unanimously elected by the 57 senators present at the session.

Notable individuals who have expressed interest in being President of the 10th Senate include Senators-elect Ali Ndume (Borno South), Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Orji Uzoh Kalu (Abia), Jibrin Barau (Kano ) and Mohammed Sani Musa (Niger), among others.

Ndume, who ran for president of the 9th Senate against Danjuma Goje and Lawan, confirmed to The PUNCH on Sunday that he is also in the running for the direction of the red room.

He said: "Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Orji Uzoh Kalu (Abia), Jibrin Barau (Kano) and Mohammed Sani Musa (newcomer from Niger) contacted me on the job.< /p>

"I am reliably informed that Abdulaziz Yari (newcomer to Zamfara) is also interested, but he has not contacted me. But know that I am also in the running; so grant give me preference in your report,” the ranking senator quipped.

He said there might be more, but noted that the ones he mentioned were those who had expressed interest in the job.

When contacted, Barau told our correspondent that he was in the running. “Yes, I am in the race. I challenge the presidency of the Senate. Wish me luck. “

In his response, Kalu's media aide, Emeka Nwala, said his principal was interested in the Senate presidency but was testing the waters.

He said, "Let's wait and see how they want to zone him. My manager is interested. Who wouldn't be interested, everyone is interested. We're just waiting to see how the zoning would take place."

Additionally, Senator Akpabio's media aide Ani Ekong said he could not give a definitive answer as he had not been in touch with his principal since the end of the senatorial elections.

However, Lawan's media assistant, Ola Awoniyi, said he was unaware of such actions taken by his superior.

The Media Assistant to the Senator representing Osun East, Osun State, Mr. Sam Progress, said no one has contacted his principal, Senator Francis Fadahunsi.

He said, however, that based on the ruling party's pre-election arrangements, the next Senate president could come from the Southeast.

According to him, "Those who wish to become president of the Senate may want to wait until after all the postponed elections are over before running...