Senate presidency: PDP senators-elect kick against Lawan's candidacy
- PDP senators-elect have kicked against the candidacy of Senator Ahmad Lawan as the nex Senate president
- The APC had endorsed Lawan, who is the current Majority Leader of the Senate for the position few weeks ago
- Some of senators-elect said they are more comfortable with the candidacy of either Senator Danjuma Goje or former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators-elect have kicked against the candidacy of Senator Ahmad Lawan for the incoming 9th National Assembly Senate president seat.
Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe and senator-elect Gabriel Suswam, in separate interviews, rejected what they called, the imposition of Lawan on the Nigerian parliament by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)
The APC had endorsed Lawan, who is the current Majority Leader of the Senate for the position few weeks ago.
In separate interviews, some PDP senators vowed to give block votes for any APC candidate who will not be seen as a "rubber stamp" of the Executive arm of government, and can protect the independence of the legislature.
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One of the senator-elect on PDP platform said: “The endorsement of Lawan by the national chairman of All Progressive Congress (APC) will easily compromise the independence of legislature.’’
Some of senators-elect said they are more comfortable with the candidacy of either Senator Danjuma Goje or former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume.
One of the PDP senator-elect said they are not unaware that Ndume is a die hard Buhari loyalist, but they believe he is a lot more flexible and sincere to work with and will not mind staking their votes on him against Lawan whom is perceived as a stooge in the hands of a certain faction within the Executive.
On his part, former governor of Benue state, Gabriel Suswam, expressed concerns saying lawmakers already perceive Lawan as a symbol of the ruling APC, pointing out that the ruling party might be in for another shocker.
The lawmakers however vowed to resist any attempt to change the voting rule from open-secret ballot to favour open voting system which they say, favours APC's plan to force its members to succumb to party supremacy.
Abaribe had said the parliament will not sit back and allow anyone impose presiding officers, insisting that only elected senators, who are duly certified, would vote when the time comes.
His words: “You don’t choose for us or determine for us who becomes what in the Senate. The reason why you have our type of democracy is so that one arm can be a check on another arm, otherwise, we might as well all go home and now let the Executive be everything, including making laws for us.
“So, our independence is hard-earned and lessons have been learnt, including what we went through in the last four years under this first term of the APC government.’’
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Meanwhile, a former minister of sports and APC chieftain, Bala Ka’oje, has faulted the endorsement of certain individuals for leadership positions by the ruling party ahead of the inauguration of the 9th National Assembly.
The APC chieftain stated that the ruling party ought to have zoned the positions to regions and not to individuals, adding that the national chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, can't appoint leaders of the National Assembly.
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