It is no longer news that Senator Godswill Akpabio has been anointed for the race to the office of the Senate President in the 10th National Assembly.
What many don’t know is that the race wouldn’t be a walkover for Akpabio when the next Senate is inaugurated in June.
The reasons are not far-fetched. His preference by the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, and the party leadership, whose hands are tied, is already generating ripples in the party. Many APC stalwarts have queried why a candidate for the Senate President will come from South-South and not North-West, which gave the party the highest number of votes in the 2023 presidential election.
Secondly, tongues are already wagging over the choice of the Deputy Senate President for Akpabio, Senator Jibrin Barau, from Kano State (North-West), which is in conflict with the preference of Hon Tajudeen Abbas for the office of Speaker of the next House of Representatives.
Abbas is from Kaduna State, same North-West as Barau.
The outgoing Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, has a considerable following among Senators both outgoing and incoming.
He is reported to be against Akpabio succeeding him in office. He has neither confirmed nor debunked the story for days now.
Also, there are reports by the conventional media that Akpabio’s Senate Presidency aspiration has suffered a setback as the major opposition caucus in the Senate has rejected him.
For the record, the ruling APC has 59 Senators-elect, PDP has 36 while other opposition parties have 14 Senators-elect combined.
By implication, the opposition parties cannot be ignored in this race.
Meanwhile, Akpabio is reported not to be in the good books of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the National Assembly both the outgoing 9th Assembly and the incoming 10th Assembly, hence all entreaties from the former Akwa Ibom State Governor have fell on the PDP lawmakers-elect’s deaf ears.
He is said to enjoy the support of only three of the 36 PDP Senators-elect. The three Akpabio’s supporters are Senators-elect from Rivers State because of Governor Nyesom Wike’s alliance with the APC at the centre.
This is happening because there are people within PDP, Akpabio’s former party, who see him as untrustworthy and unprincipled and if allowed to emerge Senate President, he will sell out the 10th Senate to the executive arm of government.
In face of these baggage, Akpabio may find it difficult to win the coveted legislative seat.
Besides, another aspirant to the office of Senate President and the only one from the North for now is Senator-elect Abdul’Aziz Abubakar Yari.
Pundits believe the former Governor of Zamfara State may upset the APC apple cart as witnessed in 2015 when Dr Bukola Saraki and Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara emerged Senate President and Speaker respectively against the directive of the ruling APC.
But, in the case of Yari, he can’t be dubbed a renegade. In fact, he is a loyal party man committed to the ideals of the APC from inception till date. This is because APC hasn’t come up with any zoning formula, hence Yari seems not to be disobeying any party directive.
It is important to know that elections of the two presiding officers of the Senate are done by open secret ballot system. Hence, at the end of the day, no one can know who individual Senators voted except those who may want to display their ballot papers for their colleagues to see like we witnessed in the just-concluded 2023 presidential election.
The open secret ballot system will favour Yari as many APC Senators-elect will want to pitch their tents with him given his disposition and leadership acumen, without being antagonised by the APC leadership.
Also, the PDP Senators-elect and others of the minor opposition parties might throw their weight behind Yari, to emerge as Senate President.
Yari, a dark horse, is seen by political pundits as the likely candidate to upset the ruling APC’s apple cart in the race to the Senate Presidency of the 10th National Assembly. He will represent Zamfara West in the next Senate.
Without gainsaying the fact, Yari has paid his dues having led the APC to victory in the 2023 presidential election in Zamfara State against all odds. The then APC presidential candidate now President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, won election only in Zamfara and Jigawa States out of the seven States of the North-West geo-political zone of Nigeria.
He is said to be dependable and reliable. He has cognate legislative experience as a former member of the House of Representatives and a wider political network beyond his political party.
Whatever the case may be, interesting times are ahead of the 10th National Assembly inauguration.
Without gainsaying the fact, Yari has paid his dues having led the APC to victory in the 2023 presidential election in Zamfara State against all odds. The then APC presidential candidate now President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, won election only in Zamfara and Jigawa States out of the seven States of the North-West geo-political zone of Nigeria.
He is said to be dependable and reliable. He has cognate legislative experience as a former member of the House of Representatives and a wider political network beyond his political party.
Whatever the case may be, only time shall tell!
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