A three horse race to the Senate presidency of the incoming 10th National Assembly is imminent as the outgoing Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, has thrown his hat into the ring.
Lawan, Vanguard learnt, has decided to disrupt the system to relaunch himself.
Recall that Lawan ran for the presidential ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) with the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and lost.
He was to later run for Senate after a hard-fought legal battle to get the senatorial ticket.
With his entry, the Senate now has 3 groups of six lawmakers in pairs to slug it out.
The two other groups outside Lawan are Senators Godswill Akpabio and Jibrin Barau ticket and Senators Orji Uzor Kalu/Abdulaziz Yari ticket.
Akpabio/Barau ticket was the one sanctioned by the APC, while that of Orji Kalu/Yari ticket had risen up in protest, asking for equity, justice, and fairness in other geopolitical zones of the country.
Vanguard reliably gathered that the senator representing Yobe North has already set up a camp for the race.
A reliable source from the national assembly, who confided in Vanguard yesterday, said that Lawan is pairing up with Senator Osita Isunaso from the Imo West senatorial zone of Imo State to actualize his ambition.
The president of the 9th Senate is equally working with other senators and stakeholders.
Some of the stakeholders included Senator Ifeanyi Ubah from Anambra State, Senator Sani Musa from Niger State, Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State, and Chief Emeka Offor.
Vanguard also gathered that the stakeholders were locked up in a nocturnal meeting that ended in the early hours of Monday morning, where an appreciable milestone on the deal was reached.
The source pointed out that Lawan’s ambition drove him to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on Saturday to welcome the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on his return to the country from Europe, a development that is a rarity for a sitting Senate president.
“I can tell you for a fact that the Senate President is running. He has chosen to pair up with Senator Osita Isunaso from Imo State to realize his ambition. Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, Senator Sani Musa, Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State, and Chief Emeka Offor are all in his camp to help him actualize the objective”.
Vanguard, however, learned that Lawan can barely gather 15 signatures to square up with the Akpabio/Barau ticket, which, it was learnt, has about 39 members at the moment despite his endorsement by the APC.
For the House of Representatives, the race has gathered momentum.
Vanguard’s investigations indicated that two of the G7 aspirants, the outgoing deputy speaker, Hon. Idris Wase, and the chairman, House Committee on Appropriations, Hon. Muktar Aliyu Betara, are now backing down despite the pressure on them to step down for APC’s preferred candidate for the speakership position, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas.
Vanguard sources said the duo would run to the end of the race no matter the amount of pressure on them to step down.
Wase said last week at the official declaration of Aminu Jaji for speaker in Abuja that the G7 would not allow one man to take up the leadership of the 10th House.
It was not, however, certain who the “one man” was.
“I want to throw a challenge at our colleagues. Are we going to allow such a thing to happen to us? One person to own the institution? One person to own Nigeria? One person to put leadership in place for us?
“Consultation is part of democracy. And we need to do so at every point in time to engage people. I think the arrogance is becoming too much. For the second time, get to a national television station and speak the way, if at all he said that.
“I think we have every reason to rise to the occasion to defend democracy. And ensure that we have credible leaders who will lead us. I never thought that anybody who believes in the scriptures, whether Christian or Muslim, would be that arrogant.
“I want to beg our leader that we do not allow one person to give the impression that there is no democracy in this country. Internationally, leaders are chosen through consultation.
“I want to believe what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Our party anointed somebody as a presidential candidate; Nigerians said no; it is Asiwaju we want.
“And eventually he emerged. And I want to believe the shenanigans done by my brother for very special reasons known to him will not stand the test of time. This group, by the grace of God, will produce the speaker”, Wase had said.
On Saturday also, the G7 met with the Greater Minority Group of the minority caucus, vowing to produce the next speaker of the House.
A statement from one of the G7 members and frontline contestants, Hon. Yusuf Gagdi’s campaign office, later stated the group had chosen a candidate amongst themselves, informing them they would be unveiled publicly at a later date.
“The G7 met with the Greater Minority and agreed on consensus candidates for Speaker and Deputy Speaker, but we will not mention the names yet. We reached the agreement based on the best choice of people that would be acceptable to the majority of all parties involved.
“We have formed this alliance to resist all attempts by external forces to impose leadership on the 10th House of Representatives. Be rest assured that the next leadership of the House will emerge from us,” the statement stated.
Meanwhile, the greater majority of the minority caucus has said it has not endorsed any of the aspirants for speakership.
At a meeting of the minority caucus yesterday in Abuja, the convener, Hon. Fred Agbedi (PDP, Bayelsa), told the members that they were to consult their respective governors and party leaders before taking a position.
He said: “Let me quickly say that if we must do the right thing, if we must actually represent our people, we need to be guided, and to be guided, we mean that we need to interact with our leaders in our constituencies, we need to interact with our colleagues from the various states, we need to interact with our party stakeholders, and all that in arriving at a decision that will be well for us.
“Your conveners and other leaders have not, either on your behalf or for you, adopted anyone for the office of presiding officers.
“That will only take place when that agreement is reached by all of us.
“That decision will be our collective decision. But I am even saying that before we get to that decision, we are going to ensure that, for example, if I come from Bayelsa State, I should be able to speak with my governor’s party leaders so that whatever I key into is with the understanding that my state leaders are on the same page with me, and that’s what we expect of all of us to do; so that we don’t ambush Mr. A or Mr. B.Â
“So, I want to assure you that we will lead ourselves to arrive at a collective decision, and in doing that, we have also resolved to have state coordinators who are going to meet at their different state levels and eventually also have zonal coordinators who will also work at the zonal level in collating the decision that they will finally come up with after due consultation.
“And that’s why we have invited all of us to this meeting so that we all know who and who will coordinate our states and also who will coordinate our zones so that we give the responsibility back to you, interact, consult, and then choose the direction to go.
“In all the interactions we have had, our leaders have authoritatively told us that they have not given mandates to their members-elect to identify with Mr. A or Mr. B. The only mandate and directive they gave to our people was to network, interact, and give them feedback.
“And at the appropriate time, decisions will be made, agreements will be reached, alliances will be formed, and then, as minorities, we will be making some sort of agreement as to what direction to go. So, as I stand here, I have not been given any mandate by my party or the governor as to what to do.”
