9th assembly: Gaya urges APC to zone deputy Senate President slot to N’West
By Tunde Opalana, Abuja
*Says Senate rule on secret voting valid
Sen. Kabiru Gaya (Kano South) has appealed to the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to zone the deputy Senate President seat in the 9thSenate to the North West geo-political zone.
Gaya said his aspiration to be deputy President of the Senate is based on the fact that the North West zone which produced the highest number of 21 senators deserves to be given the slot.
Aside, he said the zone has the highest number of votes for President Muhammadu Buhari in the February 23 presidential election.
Speaking with journalists at the National Assembly on Thursday, the former governor of Kano state argued that the zone will not be asking for too much by demanding for the seputy Senate President seat.
The Senator said the APC has not zoned other leadership positions, but should consider rewarding the zone with the position to concretize the support base that the President and the party has in the North West.
According to him, he enjoys the backing of elders and youth from Kano state to throw his hat into the ring for the position, adding that he had what it takes to occupy the position as one of the most ranking senators and a two term governor.
Speaking on the Senate rule on the pattern of voting, Sen. Gaya insisted that the provisions of the Senate Standing Rule which stipulates secret balloting system to elect presiding officers is still valid.
He, therefore, cautioned that any attempt to effect a change in the rule must be in strict compliance with parliamentary procedures.
According to Gaya, the process of amending the Senate rules is such that a motion to that effect would be sponsored on the Senate floor and would be considered thoroughly by the Senate.
Reacting to a question on recent calls for the Senate to adopt the open ballot system in electing its presiding officers for the ninth Senate, he said that the 2015 Senate rule is the valid document for use at the election since it is the one currently in use.
He said the motion to effect any change “must be presented before the end of the life span of this Senate and processed and approved. Anything outside that is outside the due process.”
“I am a member of the National Assembly. And we were able to do these rules together. We cannot change it now unless a member of the Senate moves for that change. If he moves for the change and somebody seconds it, the motion will be debated and the same thing also in the House of Representatives.
It will be debated. If there is discrepancy between the Senate and the House, we will set up a conference committee. And they will bring it to us to find a date to sit down and pass it. Can you do that in one month?” Gaya queried.
