Akume, Alabi, Top Contenders for Senate, Reps' Leadership

Ahead of the inauguration of the incoming eighth National Assembly later this year, the struggle for the positions of the principal officers has been intensified in both the Senate and House of Representatives.

The new Senate would have 64 Senators from the All Progressives Congress, (APC), while 45 are from the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP).

The APC would also have 214 elected members in the House of Representatives out of the 360 members.

The position of the Senate President, according to investigation, might have been zoned by the APC national leadership to the North-Central geo-political zone comprising; Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Nasarawa, Benue and Plateau State.

Former Governor of Benue State, who was re-elected, Senator George Akume, is believed to be highly favoured for the job.

A former Governor of Kwara State, also re-elected, Senator Bukola Saraki, is also believed to be in contention for the Senate presidency.

However, a highly placed source within the APC top hierarchy said that the current Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) case against Saraki might be a minus for him in clinching the seat.

The President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, it was further gathered, was said to have confided in those close to him that any Senator or House of Representatives member facing any trial in any court of law would not be allowed to hold any principal position.

A former Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly and Professor of Political Science, Mojeed Olujimi Alabi, was reported to be favoured as the Speaker, House of Representatives by APC leaders.

Alabi, who is coming to the House of Representatives for the first time, would represent Ede North/Ede South/Egbedore and Ejigbo Federal Constituency. He is, however, a ranking lawmaker, having served as Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly between 1999 and 2003, when Chief Bisi Akande was the state governor.

The National Chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, had during the week said: “Our party has not taken any position on power sharing at both the Senate and the House of Representatives, because we are still going through elections.

“We are going to meet after the elections to take decisions as regards which of the zones will produce the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, in view of the sad fact that the South-East and by extension, the South-South, that, ordinarily, ought to be in serious contention for the positions, are either not having APC senators-elect or House of Representatives members or ranking ones for that matter”, he stressed.

As the leaders of the party get ready for next week’s crucial meeting in Abuja, some of the elected federal lawmakers of the APC from the North and the South West have, however, commenced open and subtle campaigns for the exalted positions.

A top APC chieftain said on Sunday that “with our President-elect coming from the core North and being a Muslim, the Senate President, from the North Central, would have to be a Christian.

“That is not only just, it will also erase the pre-election campaign by the rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that our party is a Muslim party”, he said.

He believed that Saraki’s ethnic affiliation “is a minus for him in the consideration of who becomes the Senate President”, adding, “one shouldn’t forget that he (Saraki) is Yoruba from Kwara State and since a Yoruba from the South West will, eventually, emerge as Speaker, we cannot, in fairness, have another Yoruba as Senate President.”

Others who were believed to be eyeing the position of the Speaker are; Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, incumbent Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, representing Bebeji/Kiru Federal Constituency of Kano State; Hon. Yakubu Dogara, representing Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa Federal Constituency of Bauchi State; the incumbent Minority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, representing Surulere 1 Federal constituency of Lagos State and Hon. Mojeed Olujimi Alabi.

With the new zoning formula likely to come into effect soon, Jibrin and Dogara may not go far in the race as they are from the North.

This might narrow the race down to Alabi and Gbajabiamila. Another form of zoning may also come into play between the two. Already, the western end of the South West – the Lagos/ Ogun axis, where Gbajabiamila hailed from, had produced the Vice President-elect, Professor Yemi Osinbajo. Alabi’s Oyo/Osun axis of the South West, called ‘Ara Oke’ (upland) Yoruba, might, thus, be given the consideration to produce the next Speaker.