The upcoming 10th National Assembly will be inaugurated in June after the president issues a proclamation. Even though the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has not made any decision on the zoning formul, many contenders for the various positions in the legislature, especially the senate president, have already indicated interest.
However, there is a need for the party to quickly do the needful to avoid the mistake in the 8th National Assembly, where the APC senators went against the party’s choice and directives.
PDP’s senators adopted APC’s Bukola Saraki as senate president and Yakubu Dogara as speaker of the House of Representatives.
There is, therefore, the need for the APC and the president-elect to devise a formula for sharing positions.
Since the return to democracy, the North-west has not produced a senate president. However, the zone has produced four speakers – Ibrahim Salisu Buhari, Ghali Umar Na Abba both from Kano state; Aminu Bello Masari from Katsina state; and Aminu Waziri Tambuwal from Sokoto state.
On the other hand, the South-east has produced many senate presidents. The North-central is second in terms of leading the red chamber while the current senate president, Ahmed Lawan, is from the North-east.
Consequently, the ruling party needs to settle for a senate president from the North-west and Kano in particular, to create a strong base for the party in the region in the face of other opposition parties wanting to take control.
The North-west is still a deciding factor for the party to succeed in future elections. Since 2015, North-west has remained an APC stronghold even with the emergence of strong presidential contenders from the North such as Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who made the battle more challenging than usual, against all odds, the North-west stood by Bola Tinubu and provided him with the votes necessary to secure victory.
The APC and the senators-elect should consider North-west to produce senate president for effective and good legislative framework.
Among the other contenders from the North-west, Senator Barau Jibril seems to have an edge over the others, especially in terms of legislative experience and capacity, having been in the house since 2015.
However, if reaching a consensus to support Senator Jibril who seems to be the front runner from the North-west proves difficult, the party might consider an open contest.
Abba Dukawa,
Kano
