With strike threat by Labour as an aftermath of petrol subsidy removal over, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has turned his attention to a smooth take-off of the 10th National Assembly.
He is expected to issue a proclamation giving effect to the commencement of a new legislative cycle next week.
President Tinubu will hold talks with All Progressives Congress (APC) governors and members of the National Working Committee (NWC) today on preparations for the election of presiding officers, which is the first activity after the inauguration.
Tomorrow, the President will meet with APC National Assembly members-elect.
Yesterday, the President took a concrete step to unite the APC National Assembly members-elect for the purpose of arriving at a joint decision on the zoning of the principal offices.
He met with contestants for the post of Speaker who are challenging the party’s choice, Tajudeen Abbas.
Also yesterday, governors of Osun, Oyo and Rivers joined their other 23 colleagues to drum support for the APC’s preferred candidates for Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin.
Former Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, who said the Southsouth should produce the next Senate President, pointed out that anti-zoning campaigners in APC are laying a stumbling block for Tinubu.
Among the House of Representatives Speaker contenders at the meeting with President Tinubu, which started around 7 pm at the State House are Yusuf Gagdi (Pankshin/Kanke/Constituency); Sada Soli (Jibia /Kaita Constituency); Miriam Onuoha (Okigwe North Constituency); and Muktar Betara (Biu/Bayo/Shani/Kwayar Kusar Constituency).
The President earlier met separately with Deputy Speaker Idris Wase.
The meeting was attended by the APC’s National Secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore.
A Senator, who is attending the meeting with the President today, said the parley became necessary to put the house in order before the inauguration.
He said: “The President will be meeting with the APC senators-elect and House of Representatives members-elect tomorrow (today) to make a final appeal. APC governors and members of the National Working Committee (NWC) are expected at the meeting.”
The APC governors, who have repeatedly said they would support the party’s nominees for presiding officer positions are expected to join the president in persuading those challenging party’s position.
The intention is to arrive at a consensus to prevent election on the floor on inauguration day, it was learnt last night.
Tinubu pleads with Betara, Wase, Gagdi to step down for Abbas
President Tinubu pleaded with the aspirants for the Speaker to step down for Abbas.
He said his plea was in the interest of national cohesion and unity.
But the aggrieved aspirants, especially a leading aspirant, Aliyu Betara, promised to consult their supporters and get back to the President through Senator Iyiola Omisore, who led them to the meeting.
It was learnt that some of the aspirants may withdraw for Abbas in deference to the President.
Although none of the aspirants spoke with reporters, it was gathered that the President was willing to involve them.
A source said: “The President made a deft move to prevail on those aspiring to be the Speaker to step down for Abbas. He urged them to allow a seamless takeoff of the 10th House of Representatives.
“The session was a follow-up to the interaction he had with Betara on Monday.
“Tinubu brokered a no-winner, no vanquished situation. These aspirants will be accommodated in the power-sharing in the House.
“He has also granted the request of the candidates to consult with their supporters.”
A source said the ruling party is not comfortable with how a contestant for Senate President “has monetised and bastardised the process.”
The source said: “The aspirant has involved traditional rulers in the campaigns. His billboards are all over the place. He is engaged in all manner of propaganda. He is carrying on as if he is contesting a general election.”
The source said the supporters of the aspirant have hired a former Senate President as a consultant in a bid to repeat the 2015 scenario.
Predicting that the plot will fail, the source added: “The aspirant is not a ranking member, and the essence of ranking is that those who have legislative experience in the Senate should be presiding officers.”
25 governors support Akpabio/Jibrin ticket
No fewer than 25 governors have adopted Akpabio and Jibrin, it was learnt yesterday.
The 25 governors are mobilising senators-elect across APC, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP).
They include governors of Kwara, Nasarawa, Benue, Ogun, Oyo, Lagos, Ekiti, Osun, Kogi, Rivers, Cross River, Kaduna, Borno, Ebonyi and Ondo states.
The governors, the majority of whom are from APC-controlled states, have maintained that they will uphold the unanimous zoning decision of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.
The governors, it was learnt, added that the NWC has made profound decisions that will promote institutional stability and the peaceful conduct of legislative proceedings in the 10th Assembly.
Wike chides anti-zoning lawmakers
Wike accused opponents of zoning of the Senate Presidency to the Southsouth of laying a stumbling block for Tinubu in the National Assembly.
He insisted that those who love the unity of the country and want the Tinubu-led government to succeed would work to ensure the emergence of the next Senate President from the Southsouth as already determined by the President and the APC leadership.
A statement by Wike’s media aide, Kelvin Ebiri, said the former governor spoke in Port Harcourt.
He said: “My position is that the (Senate) presidency should come to the Southsouth.
“If you agree that (Senate) presidency should go to the south, tell me the truth, where should it go? It can’t be in the Southwest. It can’t be in the Southeast.
“Southsouth has only produced one Senate president, far back in 1979, Joseph Wayas. Southeast has produced over seven.”
Wike said those who earlier fought against Tinubu’s presidential ambition were still hellbent on laying a stumbling block for him at the National Assembly through their opposition to Akpabio, his preferred choice for Senate President.
He said: “The party (APC) and the President appear to have a soft spot for Akpabio. I would have thought that people will say, look, allow this administration to start on a very good foundation, so nobody gives us excuses that why this administration could not start on good footing is because of the rancour between the executive and the legislature.”
The former governor maintained that if there is no cordial relationship between the leadership of the National Assembly and the presidency, the country will be distracted by the unnecessary power conflict between the executive and National Assembly.
He added: “If Mr President doesn’t have a smooth administration, at the end of the day, who suffers? Is it not Nigerians? Let us believe that we are all one, let us give everyone a sense of belonging.”
Wike disclosed that President Tinubu and the APC national leadership preference for Akpabio, who is a Christian, is part of a deliberate strategy aimed at dispersing the misconception generated by the choice of Kashim Shettima, a Muslim, as the president’s running mate.
The former Rivers governor stressed that by backing Akpabio and appointing a former Benue State governor, George Akume, as Secretary to the Federation, President Tinubu had demonstrated his sincerity to balance the faith question.
He said: “Muslim-Muslim ticket was a problem, coupled with the abysmal performance of the last government, it was a double jeopardy. PDP campaigned against it that this country can’t have a President as a Muslim and Vice President as a Muslim.
“Somehow, by the president’s own luck, God being by his side, and his doggedness, he was able to make it.
“Mind you, a lot of booty traps were set for Mr. President not to emerge as President. A lot of booty traps were set even by people in his own party. It is correct. There is no government in this world which is a ruling party that can bring up policies that will make your party be unpopular during an election period.
“Within that period of election, you brought the issue of Naira redesign and brought the issue of there was no fuel – two things that affected the masses. You will know it was a booty trap set against Asiwaju not to emerge. Nobody can deceive me that that policy was not targeted at him.”
Wike dismissed the insinuation that his recent visit to the Presidential Villa was in connection to speculation that he was being offered a ministerial position.
He said Tinubu had never during any of their meetings made such an offer to him as was being speculated in the media.
“Every week, you see people reeling out different lists. What is my business? Mr President has not called me one day to say look this is what I want you to do, for me to say yes or no. But, you see people churning out lists. I’m sure this week another list will come out,” he said
Wike commended President Tinubu for his courage to end the fuel subsidy regime in the country.
He argued that the decision clearly distinguished the President as a man determined and prepared for leadership.
He said: “What President did was to tell Nigerians, I am prepared for this job, and that is why some of us we say give him a chance.”
Group: Zone Senate President to Southeast
The Forum of APC Support Groups rejected the zoning arrangement announced by the leadership of the party.
The group, which stormed the national secretariat of the party in Abuja, demanded that the party leadership should correct the “lop-sidedness and imbalance decision” of the zoning arrangement.
Its National Publicity Secretary Adamu Isa’ah, urged the APC National Executive Committee (NEC) to come up with an arrangement that would be fair, equitable and just.
