TWO events stand out of all the moves aimed at who gets what in the 9th National Assembly last week. First was the gathering of Reps-elect at the Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, where the main speaker was the chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole. And the second was held at the Presidential Villa, a dinner featuring President Muhammadu Buhari and the newly elected Senators, who will take their seats in the 9thAssembly starting in June.
The two events unfortunately had Oshiomhole as the main actor. The former Labour leader stole the show in the first event and at the latter he was the show. He told the Reps-elect they have no business with the opposition and that their job on the floor was to keep members elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party as some sort of anathema. At the dinner with the President, he simply barked orders at the Senators-elect, saying something like: ‘Ahmad Lawan is our next Senate President; we want a consensus candidate, go and work with him.’
Senator Ali Ndume, one of the lawmakers who have spoken openly about the disdain the APC chairman showed the senators said that Oshiomhole did not even allow Lawan an opportunity for acceptance speech.
Ndume was speaking as an experienced senator and a former member of the House of Representatives; in fact, a former Minority Leader of the lower House. In the parliament, especially on the day of inauguration when the presiding officers are elected, when a candidate would have stretched himself thin campaigning for a particular position ahead of the inauguration, he would have to be nominated by a member on the inauguration day. The nomination would be seconded and then the nominee would be asked to accept or decline the offer.
But while we can excuse Oshiomhole for failing to abide by that simple rule of the parliament, we are unable to excuse him for attempting to run the 9th National Assembly from his office even before its inauguration. He told APC lawmakers that committee positions are not to be shared with the PDP members and that the minor positions are to be left for the “minors.”
The APC chairman said that his party must produce the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, the Whip and the deputy.
He said: “We have the numbers to produce the Speaker and we will produce the Speaker, who must be a member of the APC. We have the numbers to produce the Deputy Speaker and we will use the numbers to produce the Deputy Speaker, who must be a member of the APC. We have the number and we must use the numbers to elect a House Leader who must be a member of APC. We have the numbers and we will use the numbers to produce a Chief Whip and a Deputy Whip who must be members of the APC. I think the only position that we are not interested in is the Minority Leader. Let it remain minor in the hands of the minors in the opposition.”
But the Senate leader of the outgoing Senate, whom Oshiomhole is marketing, someone who has spent the last 20 years in the two chambers is not a man to progress on such a wrong lane as Oshiomhole.
He said: “What we are doing is about Nigeria and Nigerians. What we are doing is to make life better, to continue to do those things that we have gotten right and improve on those things that we think have been lacking, for the benefit of Nigerians. When we provide a better country, it is for every Nigerian, whether you are APC or PDP or you have no political party at all. When there is calamity, God forbid, it doesn’t come and say are you APC, you are excluded.
“So, we are very conscious of the fact that we need to remain focused on delivering the dividends of democracy to Nigerians and how is it possible that you run a chamber that is very partisan. It means you have accepted crisis and anarchy in the first place.”
Senator Lawan knows that the Constitution and the Senate Rule book do not allow the Senate to be run strictly on partisan basis. The Rule on Ranking is paramount in the operations of the Senate. In fact, APC members would need to educate Oshiomhole and his leadership on this fact.
Rule 2 of the Senate Standing Orders 2015 as amended states: “Nomination of Senators to serve as Presiding Officers and appointment of Principal Officers and other officers of the Senate or any parliamentary delegation shall be in accordance with the ranking of Senator. In determining ranking , the following order shall apply-
(i)Senator returning based on number of times re-elect
(ii)Senator who had been members of the House of Representatives
(iii)Senators elected as Senators for the first time
(iv)The appointment of Senators as Chairmen and members of Committees shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the six geo-political zones of the country and there shall be no predominance of Senators from a few geo-political zones.”
In his consultations thus far, the Senate Leader has reflected his determination not to take any senator for granted. He was not waiting on the party to do him the favour. He was already seeking to gain the confidence of his colleagues.
But Oshiomhole’s adoption could stir up some shock waves. The party and the President, however, need to know that if Lawan gets the Senate Presidency, it would not be as a result of their jackboot methods, it would be simply because he has earned the confidence of his colleagues. It is better the party doesn’t spoil the fun for this man the second time.
and then