All Progressives Congress (APC) top has taken the bull by the horns to checkmate rebellion when the eighth National Assembly (NASS) is convened in June.
APC National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, confirmed that a retreat was held at Ibeto Hotel, Abuja on Friday, May 22 for all the party’s federal lawmakers.
”The two-day retreat is part of efforts being undertaken by the party to ensure that the legislators hit the ground running for the benefit of Nigerians,” he explained.
But a source in the party’s national secretariat confided in TheNiche that the real intention of the “retreat” is to whip lawmakers into line on choosing principal officers.
Tactical move
The APC leadership has battled hard to quell discontent over the zoning of such offices as the Senate president, deputy Senate president, House of Representatives speaker and deputy, among other principal posts.
The zoning formula being tinkered with reportedly upsets major stakeholders in the party. The overbearing influence of some godfathers is also said to be a source of concern.
Buhari admires Lawan’s integrity
Several meetings have been held to find a way forward but no solution seems to have been found.
At a point, President-elect Muhammadu Buhari distanced himself from those associating him with backing candidates for positions.
He said lawmakers should be allowed to choose their leaders without interference, stressing that merit and integrity should be the guiding principles.
Contenders for the Senate presidency include George Akume (Benue), Bukola Saraki (Kwara), Ali Ndume (Borno), and Ahmad Lawan (Yobe).
Although Buhari does not back any candidate, he is said to admire Lawan’s integrity and anti-corruption stance.
Lawan also reportedly has the support of Senate President David Mark, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, and former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu.
Mark may rally the support of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators for Lawan or vie for the position himself.
Gbajabiamila versus Dogara
The fight for House speaker is a straight one between Femi Gbajabiamila (Lagos) and Yakubu Dogara (Bauchi).
Gbajabiamila enjoys solid support from Tinubu and is also said to be favoured by the APC leadership because of his credible role as Minority Leader in the out-going House, where he was a torn in the flesh of the PDP.
But his endorsement by Tinubu may be his greatest undoing as many members of the House are said to be uncomfortable with his imposition which they have to fight against.
Dagora is seen as a stabilising factor in the House, going by the role he played while Aminu Tambuwal was Speaker.
Tambuwal loyalists in the House are said to be talking Dagora into accepting the position of Deputy Speaker under Gbajabiamila. But this may not work out if Lawan emerges as Senate President since both of them are from the North East.
Competence, merit, not zoning
But the APC may have ruled out zoning altogether in favour of competence and merit, going by the word of Tinubu.
He disclosed that the APC has done away with zoning and the race for NASS principal offices will be thrown open.
“You have heard from the party, you have heard from leadership, my desire is not to rock the party. I’m a disciplined party man and we will look at it critically,” he said.
“However, the nation is expecting us to take a decisive leadership decision and make one meritoriously. Merit will not be compromised.
“You have to be competent, you have to possess the kind of character, attributes of leadership. We have to be pan-Nigerian and be a very solid character to lead the National Assembly, and that is what we are talking about.
“It’s not zoning to compromise quality of leadership and competence of an individual.
“I’m not to speak, not to go further on that. I believe we have a very determined party leadership. We have resolved to follow our leadership and the criteria set by that leadership, including myself. We would not use zoning to determine and compromise the credibility and qualification of an individual.
“It must be all encompassing. Zoning could be discriminatory in some instances, you might compromise the quality of an individual. Let everybody aspire, just as we aspired.
“People predicted during our presidential primary that we were going to run into chaotic storm, but we put those people to shame and came out with the best. Expect the best from us always.”