Ndume, Kalu, Barau Speak On Vying For Senate Presidency

The Senator representing Borno South in the National Assembly, Ali Ndume, has expressed his desire to contest for the Senate Presidency in the 10th National Assembly.

Recall that Ndume contested for the presidency of the 9th Senate against former Governor of Gombe State, Danjuma Goje, and Yobe North Senator, Ahmad Lawan, who eventually emerged as the Senate President.

Ahead of the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly in June, the lawmaker said he would soon begin to lobby for the presidency of the upper chamber.

Speaking with The PUNCH on Sunday, Ndume said he was also in the race for the leadership of the red chamber, adding that some of his colleagues have started contacting him regarding the position.

He said, “Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Orji Uzoh Kalu (Abia), Jibrin Barau (Kano), and Mohammed Sani Musa (first-timer from Niger) have contacted me on the post.

“I am reliably informed that Abdulaziz Yari (first-timer from Zamfara) is also interested, but he has not contacted me. But you should know that I am also in the race.”

Also speaking, Senator representing Kano North District, Jibrin Barau, has expressed interest in contesting for the Senate Presidency in the 10th National Assembly.

“Yes, I am in the race. I am contesting the Senate Presidency. Wish me well,“ he told The Punch.

In his response, Emeka Nwala, media aide to Senator Kalu, said his principal is interested in the Senate Presidency if it is zoned to the South East.

He said, “Let’s wait and see how they want to zone it. My principal is interested. Who wouldn’t have an interest, everyone has an interest in it. We are just waiting to see how the zoning would go.”

PDP Speaks On Race For Principal Positions

Reacting to the development, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ibrahim Abdullahi, said the battle for the principal positions had already begun.

He said elected members of the National Assembly drawn from other parties were already holding talks on possible defection to the PDP to erase the APC’s majority seats in the parliament.

Speaking with The Punch, Abdullahi said no fewer than 15 members-elect have been holding talks with the party, adding that the picture would become clearer in about two weeks.

He said, “Who gets what at the National Assembly would depend on the majority seats. For now, the APC is in the majority but we are in a meeting with members-elect of other parties and there is likely to be cross-carpeting.

“Many of them are coming to us to enable us to counter APC numbers that have just been elected. Fifteen of them are speaking with the PDP but until the end of next week, it won’t be very clear. The governorship election next week will further determine how these talks play out.”

The deputy publicity secretary did not however reveal the identity of the parties whose elected members were interested in teaming up with the PDP.

Too Early For Senate Presidency Battle – APC

Also speaking, the Director of Publicity for the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bala Ibrahim, stated that it was too early to start talking about the battle for the Senate presidency.

He noted, “I don’t understand how anyone can name a child without first giving birth. I think we should think of constituting the 10th Assembly before we talk about the composition of the leadership. Let us get to the bridge before we cross it.

“Certainly, there are plans. But the leadership tussle can only come after the inauguration of the new assembly. The assembly inauguration itself cannot happen until the swearing-in of the president. When you don’t have a president for the new assembly, you only have the president-elect and assembly members-elect.

‘’So, you don’t talk about the strategy that you are going to put on the leadership. It is just like asking who is going to be the Secretary of the Government and you want names when the government has not been formed,” he said.

He, however, slammed the opposition parties for vying for the principal positions in the National Assembly while at the same time claiming that the election was fraught with rigging.

Ibrahim said, “How do we reconcile the race for Senate presidency when you claimed the elections were rigged? When you say one side of your chest is itching and the other side is not. Now you want an X-ray on only one part which you don’t feel comfortable with. () That cannot be.’’