How PDP Plans To Frustrate Lawan’s Ambition In Ninth Senate – The Nation

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) plans to poach 13 All
Progressives Congress (APC) returning and new Senators to forestall the
emergence of Senator Ahmad Lawan as the President of the 9th Senate
President, APC sources have said.

A source said two Senators approached to be arrow heads of the plans alerted the party hierarchy and Lawan’s campaign team.

The
two senators, one a returning and the other just elected, said a
source, were expected to lead PDP to their colleagues from Adamawa,
Taraba, Ekiti, Bauchi, Gombe, Kano and Kebbi states.

The PDP, said our sources, are working for an APC Senator from Gombe.

A
ranking Senator said: “At the moment, Lawan is the candidate to beat,
using well known international parliamentary best practices and
parameters.

“All odds are in his favour in terms of experience in
the administration of the legislature. He has been in the National
Assembly in the last 20 solid years. His achievements at the Committee
level are unassailable. Remember the engine room of legislation is the
Committee stage. Don’t forget he has a Phd.”

A senator-elect,
who turned down the PDP offer, said: “In all parliaments, be it in the
Presidential System or Parliamentary System the world over, leadership
or presiding officers emerge based on their experiences as leaders of
the caucuses. Thus, when a party gains a majority after a general
election into Parliament, the leader of the caucus of such a party in
the legislature transforms to be the President or Speaker of such
parliament in a seamless process. It is an established practice and all
stakeholders should make sure we act in conformity with the
international standard in this respect.

“They also discussed with
us the revival of the ‘Like Minds Group’ of 2015 and their various
social media campaign of calumny, most especially their deliberate
attempt to link a National Leader of APC, Senator Bola Tinubu, to the
emergence of Senator Ahmad.”

Meanwhile, the Initiative for Demonstrating Change in Nigeria (IDCN), a pro Buhari group, backed Lawan’s aspiration.

The,
group, therefore, urged members-elect of the National Assembly to
support the decision of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to
elect Lawan as Senate President and Femi Gbajabiamila as Speaker of the
Federal House Representatives.

Mr Chinedu Ogah, the National
Coordinator of the group, who spoke to reporters in Abakaliki, said the
contributions of Lawan as the Majority Leader of the 8th Senate were
far reaching as they boosted the unity of the country.

Ogah said: “Ahmed Lawan has displayed maturity as the true leader that will unite the national assembly.

”
He is a lover of democracy, intelligent, humble and believer in one
Nigeria. We should elect him as the Senate President because he has
displayed that he does not put party interest above national interest.”

Source:- Thenationonlineng