9th NASS: Why we chose Ahmed Lawan for Senate President – APC

…No APC senator will disobey party, says Sen. Sabi

Tom Okpe and Tunde Opalana, Abuja

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has formally confirmed that it has settled for the choice of Senator Ahmed Lawan from Yobe State as the Senate President of the 9th National Assembly.

Sen. Lawan is currently the Majority Leader in the Senate.

The party said the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is exhibiting ignorance by planning to share National Assembly’s leadership positions with it, emphasising that not even a committee position except minority and public accounts committee will be given to the opposition.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday in Abuja, at the party’s secretariat, the APC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, said it would not share any position in the National Assembly with members of the PDP, adding that it will be a winners takes it all affair as is applicable in all democratic set up.

He said: “In a presidential system of government, it is winner takes all. There is no room for power sharing with PDP.

“The news has been out that we had an interaction with the senators-elect, with the President, governors, leaders of the party and NWC members where it was presented to the stakeholders that the ruling party has decided on who will be the next Senate President according to what the democratic rule says and the person’s name is Senator Ahmed Lawan.

“Since that news came out, this party has not come out to contradict itself. So, that has been done but it’s left for the party to do the needful and have that sorted out.

“Let me take that further, my emphasis on the fact that we are not going to share power with the people that Nigerians have rejected, including the fact that what the PDP people call juicy committees and we in APC call strategic committees is exclusive for APC.

“We don’t need them to head any committee where they are going to compromise on the promises we have made to Nigerians. Nigerians cannot give us a mandate and we take part of it and hand over to the people they have rejected, we cannot betray the people of this country and we will not do it.

“So, the zoning arrangement for the other positions is in the works and just as the media and Nigerians have been informed as who our preferred candidate for the Senate President is, we will come out to tell you what the zoning formula is for the remaining offices in the Senate and also in the House of Representatives.”

He further explained that his party will not expect a single vote of the PDP senators to decide who the next principal officers will be in both the Senate and the House of Representatives in the 9th Assembly.

“There is no room for power sharing because we don’t need them to run this government. We have enough numbers to run this government.

In any case, when we were campaigning, we never told Nigerians that we are going to share power with any other party. We told them please entrust power unto us.

“It will be a betrayal of trust to go ahead and start sharing power with a party, particularly the PDP that has been rejected by Nigerians.

“We are snatching from the last experience, what happened when some traitors within the APC sold our Democratic and political right to an opposition party which some people now consider to be a democratic normal”, he added.

Meanwhile, Chairman Senate Committee on Information and Publicity, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, has assured that the adoption of Senator Ahmed Lawan as candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the position of Senate President in the 9th Senate will not destabilise the party as no member of APC will go against the decision.

Abdullahi, who is also the spokesperson of the Ahmed Lawan for Senate President group, said there will not be dissent senator among APC members against the position of the party in the choice of Ahmed Lawan.

Sen. Abdullahi said as members of the ruling party, the APC senators- elect would not go against the party decision.

Speaking the Senate Press Corps on Wednesday, Senator Abdullahi said the party has learnt its lesson from 2015 mistakes and cannot this time around fail to be assertive in taking its rightful positions in the leadership of the National Assembly.

He added that having learnt from last experience, President Buhari and APC as a ruling party cannot fail to give the members direction to follow in the 9th assembly.

He said this is necessary for the APC led parliament to provide legislative framework that would help the executive to deliver on electioneering promises and to consolidate on achievements made so far by the government in bringing about the change the public yearn for.

Abdullahi was optimistic that “the APC is getting it right and will get it right”, adding that the party today has one single Caucus and it is united.

He emphasised that APC is having the support of a good number of members of the opposition in the Ahmed Lawan senate presidency project.

“A good number of them have indicated interest to support the choice of Senator Ahmed Lawan candidature for the office of the Senate President. There are some of our colleagues in the PDP who are for Ahmed Lawan and we are going to work together,” he said.

Speaking on the need for unity among Senators irrespective of party leanings, Sabi said Senators were elected to work toward good governance to better the lot of masses, adding that senators were elected to represent people in order to bring back home dividends of democracy.

Speaking on statement credited to Senator Orji Uzor Kal in Lagos that he will contest openly on the floor of the Senate, if candidate for the office of Deputy Senate President was not zoned to South East, Sabi maintained that all zones in the federation will get slot in the share of presiding and principal officers of the assembly.

He noted that only office of the Senate President has now been zoned to the North East.

“You will recall that the constitution provides for two offices of presiding officers of the lower and upper chambers- Senate President and Deputy Senate President.

“It also provides for other four principal officers office: Senate Majority leader, Chief Whip, Deputy Chief Whip, Deputy Majority Leader, Minority Leader and Deputy Minority Leader, and Minority whip.

This is against directive by APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole that the party elected on the platform of the party should ensure they take all positions in both chambers of the National Assembly”.

He said “the majority will have its way while the minority have its say. We have been engaging from those of our colleagues in PDP and most of them have been working with us to have a rancour free harmonious.