9th NASS: Lawan, Ndume, Gbajabiamila, others in last minute horse-trading

Twenty-four hours to the inauguration of the 9th National Assembly, contenders for the various leadership positions were locked in last-minute horse-trading, last night, to get the upper hand at the election on the floors of the two chambers.

The two candidates for the Senate Presidency, Senator Ahmad Lawan (APC, Yobe North), and Senator Ali Ndume (APC, Borno South) have focused their attention on wooing senators-elect individually. There are also promises of chairmanship of strategic committees, among others.

Newsflash247 gathered that the meeting was to ensure that the candidates of APC National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, did not emerge as leaders of the National Assembly.

Currently, there are 107 senators-elect as two are still being expected from Imo State. The APC has 62 senators-elect, PDP 44 and YPP, one. If the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC gives former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha his certificate of return for Imo West Senatorial District as ordered by the court, APC will have 63 senators.-elect.

The APC endorsed Ahmad Lawan for the senate presidency; Senator Ovie Omo-Agege for deputy senate presidency; and Femi Gbajabiamila for the House of representatives speaker. Ndume insists that he has the support of President Muhammadu Buhari and assurances of most of his colleagues. He pooh-poohed reports of 61 senators-elect endorsing Lawan, adding that he would get the ‘’real endorsement’’ on the floor of the Senate tomorrow.

PDP Senators in marathon meeting, vow to fight Oshiomhole

To ensure they played decisive role in the election, some senators-elect on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, met last night in Abuja. At the meeting, the Senators are taking a position collectively on how their votes would go and also brainstormed on the way forward the Ninth National Assembly.

Recently, Oshiomhole drew the ire of the PDP lawmakers when he said the APC as the ruling party would not share leadership and chairmanship positions with the PDP except statutory slots meant for the opposition.

A source at the PDP senators-elect meeting told Vanguard that the time has come for them to reply Oshiomhole over his stand that the APC would not share positions with the PDP except the statutory Public Accounts which is traditionally for the opposition in the Senate and House of Representatives.

The source said further that the move is to show to the APC National Chairman that as Senators, they are men and women who have occupied various positions in the society and should not be addressed the way and manner Oshiomhole did.

Gbajabiamila’s camp threatens new members-elect with sanctions if

In what appears like a last-minute strategic fight to win the speakership election, the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and the political camp of its adopted candidate for the office, Femi Gbajabiamila, have devised fresh plans to get new members-elect to vote for him.

This is a response to the National Assembly management’s adoption of secret balloting for the election as opposed to open-balloting canvassed by some leaders of the APC. The plan, Vanguard gathered last night, is to issue what is called a green card to all the members on the day of inauguration. The plan, according to a new member-elect from the North-East who craved anonymity, is for the members to pen down the serial number of the ballot papers with which they vote on the card. The essence, the member said, is to keep track of the number and voting behaviour of the freshers and restrain them from voting any other candidate during the election.

There are indications that the measures are aimed at reining in new members who may be tempted into voting for candidates of their choice. The card would eventually be submitted to designated party leaders for scrutiny and proper sanctions. The two camps reportedly devised the plan following their inability to get the national assembly management to change the voting system from secret to open balloting. It will be recalled that the National Assembly management had last Friday said that it would be sticking with the standing rules of the House, which stipulate secret balloting.

As it stands presently, the APC has a total of 119 new members-elect, with the North-West leading the table with 39 members, while the South-West follows closely with 33. Others are the North-Central 22, South-South, six, and South-East, one. However, some of the members-elect have vowed to vote for the candidates of their choice, insisting that no amount of intimidation will cow them into going against their conscience. Gbajabiamila has consistently remarked that the new members were his backbone.

At a meeting with a section of the freshers on Saturday in Abuja, Gbajabiamila re-echoed his confidence in them for victory. He said: “Thank you new members. If you know me very well, you know my heart is with the new members. Let me quickly say, I have never seen such love, such support inside one group. God bless you.’’ Also, a host of the speakership candidates were up beat about their chances, yesterday, with some of them insisting on running to the finish line. The candidates were Jide Olatunbosun (Oyo), John Dyegh (Benue) and Mohammed Bago (Niger).

However, Nkiru Onyejeocha (Abia), stepped down for Gbajabiamila, last night.

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