{"id":438437,"date":"2011-06-08T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-06-08T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/06\/08\/crisis-hits-senate-reps-over-sharing-of-posts-%e2%80%a2pdp-makes-u-turn-accepts-tambuwal-as-speaker\/"},"modified":"2011-06-08T23:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-06-08T23:00:00","slug":"crisis-hits-senate-reps-over-sharing-of-posts-%e2%80%a2pdp-makes-u-turn-accepts-tambuwal-as-speaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/08\/crisis-hits-senate-reps-over-sharing-of-posts-%e2%80%a2pdp-makes-u-turn-accepts-tambuwal-as-speaker\/","title":{"rendered":"Crisis hits Senate, Reps over sharing of posts \u2022PDP makes U-turn, accepts Tambuwal as Speaker"},"content":{"rendered":"
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|\u00a0Print\u00a0|<\/a>\u00a0E-mail<\/a><\/p>\n

Written by Taiwo Adisa and Lanre Adewole, Abuja<\/span> Thursday, 09 June 2011<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

THE push for the appointment of principal officers of the Senate and House of Representatives has erupted in crisis in the National Assembly,<\/p>\n

following a titanic battle that is raging among the contending zones.<\/p>\n

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had moved, on Tuesday, to intervene in the controversy fuelled by the election of Honourable Aminu Tambuwal as Speaker of the House of Representatives against the zoning arrangement of the party, which ceded the position to the South-West.<\/p>\n

Sources told the Nigerian Tribune that\u00a0 senators from the PDP and the minority parties, including the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the All Nigeria People\u2019s Party (ANPP), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the Labour Party (LP), the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) are at one another\u2019s throats over the composition of the principal officers\u2019 positions.<\/p>\n

It was gathered that while the PDP lawmakers in the Senate were fighting over the position of Senate Leader, senators from the South-South and North-East were angling for the same position.<\/p>\n

It was gathered that the PDP had suggested that the position of Senate Leader and the House Leader should be reserved for the two zones, the North-East and the South-West, which lost out in the zoning equation, as a result of Tambuwal\u2019s emergence.<\/p>\n

But sources said that the senators were resisting the push by the PDP, insisting that democracy should prevail in the chamber.<\/p>\n

It was gathered that some senators were insisting on the choice of former Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Ndoma-Egba, whom they said had earned the respect of members.<\/p>\n

There is also a raging battle over the position of Minority Leader of the Senate and other three minority positions. The senators from the ACN were said not to be comfortable with the order of former Lagos State governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, directing them to vote for Senator George Akume from Benue State as the Minority Leader.<\/p>\n

It was gathered that senators from the DPP, APGA, LP, ANPP and CPC refused to attend a meeting of the minority parties called by\u00a0 Tinubu on Tuesday night. The meeting lasted till the early hours of Wednesday, sources said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was learnt that senators of the opposition parties rejected the notice of meeting by Tinubu but that one of the North-East senators, Bukkar Abba Ibrahim, attended the meeting.<\/p>\n

The choice of who becomes Deputy Minority Leader is also said to be tearing senators from the ANPP apart. Three senators were said to be eyeing the post and one of them is Senator Abbah Ibrahim who is set to do battle with Senator Kabiru Gaya from Kano and former governor of Zamfara State, Sani Ahmed Rufai Yerima.<\/p>\n

A senator from one of the minority parties said that the lawmakers had warned their members not to attend a meeting where Tinubu would issue orders to them.<\/p>\n

He said that the Senate could not be seen as an extension of Tinubu\u2019s party, adding that lawmakers were on the floor to represent their people and not a party or party leader.<\/p>\n

Within the PDP, it was said that the only senator from the South-West, Hosea Agboola, would be allocated the position of Deputy Majority Whip.<\/p>\n

But sources said that though Tinubu was trying to force ACN members to vote Akume as Minority Leader, some of the lawmakers insisted that the post should be domiciled in the South-West since the party won most of its seats in the area. They said that if the PDP would not give the position of Speaker to the South-West, because it lost election in the area, the ACN should take the position of Minority Leader when it won the seats in the South-West.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt should not be a situation of double losses for the South-West,\u201d a source said.<\/p>\n

It was, however, learnt that other opposition parties were not comfortable with the move to pick Akume as minority leader, as such a development would easily possibly get the Senate consumed with what some of the lawmakers called \u201cBenue politics,\u201d which they claimed could cause persistent tension in the upper chamber.<\/p>\n

Sources said that a coalition of other minority parties besides the ACN might stall the appointment of Akume as minority leader and drag the matter before the entire Senate.<\/p>\n

The minority parties altogether have 20 members as against the ACN with 18 senators.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, despite the grandstanding of the ACN on the issue of Government of National Unity (GNU), it has been discovered that its leader and former Lagos State governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, has been unilaterally negotiating with the presidency and the reported refusal of his demand was said to have informed his direction to members of the House of Representatives elected on the ticket of the party to dump Mulikat Adeola-Akande representing the South-West.<\/p>\n

With the victory recorded by President Goodluck Jonathan at the April 16 presidential poll in the South-West, there had been perceived romance between Tinubu and the president, with the ACN actively participating in meetings called by Jonathan.<\/p>\n

Though there was no official statement from the presidency inviting the ACN into GNU, Tinubu and the top echelon of the party had been making conflicting statements about their participation if invited by Jonathan.<\/p>\n

It was, however, gathered that Tinubu had been making his consultations with the presidency without the knowledge of other top party chieftains, with the former governor said to have demanded four key cabinet positions in the proposed Federal Executive Council (FEC) by Jonathan, which the presidency reportedly declined.<\/p>\n

Tinubu was said to have unilaterally gone into an understanding with the presidency, resulting in his demand for the ministries of Justice, Interior, Works and Finance.<\/p>\n

He was said to have pencilled in a Commissioner of Justice and Attorney-General in Lagos State as the next AGF and another former Commissioner for Finance as the finance minister.<\/p>\n

It was gathered that Tinubu was particular about having the office of the AGF considered the most strategic in any administration, given the massive power and influence the holder of the office wields in the polity and the administration.<\/p>\n

In demanding for the office of the AGF, Tinubu was said to be moving a step ahead in consolidating his grip on the lever of government in the polity and permanently stave off his many trials.<\/p>\n

However, a source in government circle said \u201cTinubu was asking for the impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The presidency was said to have been completely averse to Tinubu\u2019s request, given the resolve of President Jonathan to combat corruption headlong, with the breakdown in understanding reportedly leading Tinubu to direct his men in the House of Representatives to back Tambuwal against the wish of the president and the PDP.<\/p>\n

The 71 members of the ACN in the House of Representatives were said to have delivered a block vote to Tambuwal who eventually emerged as speaker, though many of them were said to have expressed reservation on the position taken by the ACN leadership.<\/p>\n

A prominent ACN chieftain in Oyo State reportedly rooted seriously for Tambuwal, because he was said to be averse to having a number four in his domain belonging to a rival political party.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Link:
\nCrisis hits Senate, Reps over sharing of posts \u2022PDP makes U-turn, accepts Tambuwal as Speaker<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

|\u00a0Print\u00a0| \u00a0E-mail Written by Taiwo Adisa and Lanre Adewole, Abuja Thursday, 09 June 2011 THE push for the appointment of principal officers of the Senate and House of Representatives has erupted in crisis in the National Assembly, following a titanic battle that is raging among the contending zones. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had moved, on Tuesday, to intervene in the controversy fuelled by the election of Honourable Aminu Tambuwal as Speaker of the House of Representatives against the zoning arrangement of the party, which ceded the position to the South-West. Sources told the Nigerian Tribune that\u00a0 senators from the PDP and the minority parties, including the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the All Nigeria People\u2019s Party (ANPP), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the Labour Party (LP), the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) are at one another\u2019s throats over the composition of the principal officers\u2019 positions. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":438346,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-438437","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-local-news"},"yoast_head":"\nCrisis hits Senate, Reps over sharing of posts \u2022PDP makes U-turn, accepts Tambuwal as Speaker - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/08\/crisis-hits-senate-reps-over-sharing-of-posts-\u2022pdp-makes-u-turn-accepts-tambuwal-as-speaker\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Crisis hits Senate, Reps over sharing of posts \u2022PDP makes U-turn, accepts Tambuwal as Speaker - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"|\u00a0Print\u00a0| \u00a0E-mail Written by Taiwo Adisa and Lanre Adewole, Abuja Thursday, 09 June 2011 THE push for the appointment of principal officers of the Senate and House of Representatives has erupted in crisis in the National Assembly, following a titanic battle that is raging among the contending zones. 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