APC Endureses Lawan, Gbajabiamila Senate President, House Of Rep Speaker, PDP, Others Kick

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) may have settled for the choice of Senate Leder, Ahmad Lawan as the next Senate president, but this decision may not go down well with others contending for the same position.
Sources said there already bickering within the ruling party over the choice made by the party leadership in consultation with the president.
Former Senate Majority Leader Muhammed Ali Ndume has openly criticised the endorsement of Lawan by President Muhammadu Buhari and the party’s leadership, saying the action was illegal.
President Buhari, the APC leadership and most APC governors have endorsed Lawan after consultations on Tuesday.
The choice of the party for the speaker of the House of Representatives is Femi Gbajabiamila, representing Surulere constituency.
The current Senate president Bukola Saraki, who later defected to the main opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) was not the choice of the party and the President.
However, the main opposition party has kicked against the interference of the President and the leadership of the ruling APC in the choice of the National Assembly leadership.
In a statement, the PDP said its elected senators and members of the House of Representatives were constitutionally eligible to lead both chambers of the National Assembly.
The PDP noted that positions of the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Deputy Senate President and the Deputy Speaker were not exclusively meant for any political party, but constitutional rights of every elected lawmaker in both chambers.
But sources said consideration for Lawan as Senate President was borne out of his loyalty to the party and consistently belonging to the progressive in the last 20 years.
The APC leaders were said to have considered Lawan’s “qualifications, prudence, accountability, loyalty and rich legislative experience” which will assist the APC government to have a robust Executive-Legislative relationship to fast-track development.
Others who have shown interest in occupying to the position are Senators Danjuma Goje and Adamu Abdullahi both former governors in Gombe and Nassarawa States. Ali Ndume was the Senate majority leader before he was unceremoniously removed by the leadership of the senate.
But faulting the party’s position at a media briefing in Abuja, Ndume said the endorsements were contrary to the provisions of Section 50(1A) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
The section states: “There shall be a president and deputy president of the Senate who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves.”
According to Ndume, neither Oshiomhole nor Buhari or any party leader has the right to force presiding officers on lawmakers.
He said: “What took place at the presidential dinner in Aso Rock on Monday night where Oshiomhole as party chairman, announced Lawan and Gbajabiamila as President of the 9th Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively was very shocking to me and many of my colleagues.
“Oshiomhole, in making the announcement or endorsement, did not even allow me or Senators Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central) and Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa West), widely known to be in the race for the position, to say anything.
“More disturbing was the fact that even Senator Ahmed Lawan, endorsed for the position, was not allowed to make any comment in the form of an acceptance speech or to solicit support from other interested senators.”
He said: “For the sake of cohesion and stability among party members as regards aspirations for such positions, what was expected from the party leadership, was to just zone the positions and allow contenders within each of the zones to sort things out either through consensus or shadow election.”