Security was tightened at the National Assembly on Monday, preparatory to the inauguration of the 8th Assembly on Tuesday(today).
President Muhammadu Buhari, who will arrive in Abuja on Tuesday morning from Germany where he attended the G-7 Summit, is expected to conduct the ceremony which will be followed by the election of the assembly’s leadership.
But going by the happenings in the ruling All Progressives Congress and among its members in the Assembly, the elections of the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives may not be rancour-free.
The party had on Saturday conducted mock elections that saw Femi Gbajabiamila and Ahmad Lawan as consensus candidates for the House speaker and Senate President respectively.
But the mock elections were condemned by Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara, who, in spite of the APC directive to them and their supporters, insisted on vying for the Senate Presidency and speakership on Tuesday(today).
Saraki and Dogora are hoping to garner most of their votes from the Peoples Democratic Party lawmakers.
As of press time on Monday, a series of meetings by stakeholders were about to commence at different locations in Abuja as the aspirants intensified their lobby to clinch the coveted positions.
* Saraki, Dogara shun Osinbajo’s peace meeting
A truce meeting that was to be presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo was allegedly shunned by Dogara, Saraki and their supporters.
The National Chairman of the party, John Odigie-Oyegun, who announced the meeting, had told journalists in Abuja that the party was doing everything to reconcile all its aggrieved lawmakers-elect.
Odigie-Oyegun explained that all the new APC lawmakers were being called upon to respect the party and abide by the majority decision taken on those that should lead the National Assembly.
He had said, “I want to appeal to APC members in both the Senate and the House of Representatives to respect the party, its view and the decision they themselves took in selecting the persons that will be presented to the National Assembly as the presiding officers.
“I want to make it clear, all the party did was to provide a platform for all elected members of the party in stating their preferences; this they have freely done in front of the party leadership.
“It seems that some of the aspirants feel not satisfied with the preferences of the majority of the members but for me as the chairman and other members of the NWC, we want to appeal that no individual interest should be allowed to override the interest of the party as a whole.”
The chairman argued that since they contested on the platform of the party and rather than the other way round, they must respect “ the party’s views and its methods of doing things.”
According to him, the party was fully aware that it could not impose leaders on the legislators hence all it did was to provide a platform for them to chose amongst themselves who their leaders would be.
He said, “We should let peace reign, we’ve all agreed to change and it must start with the conduct of the members themselves. To achieve this, Vice President Osinbajo will also have the opportunity to address elected APC National Assembly members.
“This is the very first step of the distribution of the spoils of office. The APC has survived a lot of predictions; we have survived and put many doomsayers to shame, this too shall come to pass.”
But minutes before the meeting with Osinbajo was scheduled to begin, a source close to Dogara sent a statement, saying the House of Representatives-elect members loyal to Dogara would not attend the parley .
The statement cited threats to their “personal safety and liberty” as reason.
The statement which was sent via SMS partly read, “ Information reaching us indicates that this purported meeting is a ploy to arrest and detain members until after tomorrow’s election. Continue PUNCH
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