Developing signals have started emerging on the struggle for the leadership of the 9th National Assembly billed for inauguration in June.
Newsflash247 gathered that more lawmakers were expressing their interests by to preside over the chambers and be among the principal offices Senate and the House of Representatives.
An aide to one of the aspirants in the Senate, who is privy to the discussion in the All Progressives Congress caucus, said the ruling party had zoned the Senate presidency to the North-East and the Speaker of the House as well as the Deputy Senate presidency to the South-West.
The source disclosed that three ranking senators wanted to become deputy senate president.
According to the source, the leading aspirants in the South-West gunning for the Deputy Senate President seat are Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who is the wife of the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, (Lagos Central); a former Senate Majority Leader, Senator Teslim Folarin (Oyo Central) and Senator Ajayi Boroffice (Ondo North).
The source stated, “The latest from the APC is that there is a zoning arrangement the party wants to implement, which the leaders seem to have agreed on. The North-East will produce the Senate President while the South-West will produce the Speaker.
“The South-East and South-South would be included at certain levels. It will be planned the same way it was done in 2015.
“Now that the South-West will produce deputy Senate president, the race is now between three ranking members from the geopolitical zone, namely Teslim Folarin, Oluremi Tinubu and Ajayi Boroffice.”
Also, a prominent APC member in the House from the North-East, who is part of those backing an aspirant to be speaker, disclosed that they had begun to lobby their colleagues in the chamber.
The lawmaker said although it was certain that Dogara would lose the Speaker’s seat, aspirants would not openly declare their bid for the seat until it was close to the end of the Speaker’s tenure.
The lawmaker added, “Although the APC might want to go for the old template; within the House, members from the North-East are insisting on having their slot as speaker. So, for the North-East, it is between Abdulrazak Namdas (Adamawa) and Mohammed Monguno (Borno). They are the two main contenders.
“For instance, Namdas came from the constituency of the presidential candidate of the PDP, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, and he is the only one who won for the APC in the entire senatorial district Atiku comes from.”
‘APC has reversed gains of our electoral system’ When contacted on the aspiration, Namdas neither confirmed nor denied vying for the speaker of the House.
“I am eligible to be speaker but it is too early to make a stand because we are still dealing with the governorship and state House of Assembly elections. We will make our positions known as soon as we are back; when we resume,” the Rep added.
Monguno could not be reached to confirm being in the race. When contacted on the telephone, his line indicated that it had been switched off.
Newsflash247 reported that barely one week after the National held, several lawmakers, who won, had begun to lobby positions.
The ruling APC, which has retained its majority status according to the results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission, is said to have already zoned the presiding and principal offices of the chambers to geopolitical zones.
