Hours after NASS elections: Race for juicy Cttee seats grips Senators, Reps
…Bamidele tipped for Senate Leader, Adeola Appropriation
…Ndume no pushover
By Tunde Opalana
Senate yesterday adjourned its inaugural plenary to July 4.
But barely 24 hours after elections into the principal officer positions in the National Assembly were held, won and lost on Tuesday, another race hots up in the Senate: the jostle for juicy Committee chairmanship positions.
Daily Times gathered that after the adjournment of plenary, though the lawmakers in both chambers are expected to relocate to their constituents during the recess, a large number of them, particularly non- ranking legislators, are staying back to lobby for juicy committee positions.
While the newly-elected Senate President,Sen. Godswill Akpabio, and Speaker, Hon. Tajudeen Adisa, might have negotiated chairmanship of certain juicy committees to promoters of their campaign for the leadership positions, other legislators are not leaving any stone unturned to ensure they land juicy committees.
The Daily Times gathered that Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (Ekiti Central) is said to have been promised the position of Senate Leader, while Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (Ogun West) is believed to have been promised the chairmanship of the Appropriation Committee.
The two lawmakers were arrowheads of the Akpabio/ Barau Stability Group campaign, the special purpose campaign vehicle which, in no small measure, helped Akpabio and Barau,the Deputy President of Senate,clinch victory.
But, it was not confirmed the position that Senator Ali Ndume (Borno South) may occupy as he is also being linked with an interest in the Senate Leader slot.
Meanwhile, lobbying for both Majority and Mnority principal office positions may not be overlooked as the sole decisions of political parties.
It was gathered that some interested lawmakers are set to lobby members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of their parties, particularly in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and leading opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for these equally plum seats.
It is believed that lawmakers in the opposition parties, the PDP, Labour Party (LP), New Nigeria Peoples Party'(NNPP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Young Peoples Party (YPP) are most likely to stay back to have a less rancorous selection,with not too much at stake for them.
Meanwhile, yesterday,the 10th Senate held its inaugural sitting engaging in closed door session for more than three hours.
The makeshift chamber on the ground floor of the Senate wing in the National Assembly complex was filled to the brim as almost all the 109 newly inaugurated senators enthusiastically attended the maiden meeting.
Due to lack of proceedings to be adopted , the lawmakers immediately went into a closed session.
At the end, Senate President Akpabio said issues related to development of the National Assembly and the Senate in particular were discussed behind closed doors.
However, a source told the Daily Times that Akpabio engaged his colleagues on the need to run a seamless parliament devoid of partisanship, how to legislate on issues of national interest as against regional or ethno- religious concerns and, most importantly, how to collaborate with the executive arm of government without unnecessarily been tagged a ‘rubberstamp’ parliament.
Sitting was later adjourned to July 4.
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The break became necessary for the National Assembly management to tidy up allocation of offices to the Senators and equipping of such for smooth running of their legislative functions.
The recess may also be necessitated by the need to complete renovation works on the hallowed chambers of both the Senate and House of Representatives which started almost a year ago as a result of leaking rooftop.
The Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), owner of the National Assembly complex, contracted the renovation works and other sundry upliftment of the ‘White House’ section to some contracting firms with the work not going as fast as thought.
