•Izunaso, Musa withdraw, Lawan endorses Akpabio after Tinubu meeting
AHEAD of today’s inauguration of the 10th National Assembly, President Bola Tinubu, on Monday mobilised support for Senator Godswill Akpabio, who is contesting the Senate presidency.
The President, as part of efforts to rally support for Akpabio and other anointed aspirants of the All Progressives Congress, met the Chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum, Hope Uzodimma.
But a former Zamfara State Governor, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, was pressing ahead with his Senate presidential ambition on Monday just as the Deputy Speaker, Idiris Wase and another member of the House of Representatives, Sani Jaji, insisted on contesting the position of the Speaker.
The APC’s National Working Committee had zoned the Senate President to the South-South and nominated Akpabio, a Christian, as the preferred candidate and Senator Jibrin Barau from North-West for Deputy Senate President.
Similarly, the party nominated Tajudeen Abbas (Kaduna/North-West) for Speaker; and Benjamin Kalu (Abia/South-East) for Deputy Speaker.
Despite the insistence of the aggrieved aspirants to contest, the APC, on Monday, expressed confidence that its Akpabio would emerge through a consensus.
Uzodimma, revealed this to journalists after meeting President Bola Tinubu, following a Democracy Day ceremony held at the forecourt of the Presidential Villa.
Uzodimma, who chairs “a small technical committee to help coordinate the process of Tuesday’s election” in the Senate and the House of Representatives, said his team was hopeful of a landslide victory for the Akpabio.
Asked about the likely success rate for the Senate President contender, he said, “Well, substantially, for a substitute consensus, by the number of people and by the efforts we have put in place, it is our hope that tomorrow it might even be a consensus event.
Govs back Akpabio
“But to the glory of God, we pray for that. And at the same time hoping that, should we go into an election, Akpabio’s acceptance as of today cuts across the political party we belong to.
“In other political parties, there are also some similar minds who are interested in the development and progress of Nigeria; who also understand the need to safeguard democracy as being practiced in Nigeria today. And they are in sync with our preferred candidate.”
Uzodimma added that his committee had achieved substantial progress in collaborating with the outgoing Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, adding that the latter would work for the emergence of the preferred candidates of the party.
There were also indications on Monday that Lawan had endorsed Akpabio for the Senate presidency after a meeting with Tinubu.
According to multiple sources, Lawan, who was a major voice in the Yari camp, backed out on Monday and threw in his weight behind the Akpabio/Barau ticket.
Lawan in a meeting with President Bola Tinubu, Akpabio, Barau, the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajamiabila, and some governors, endorsed the candidacy of Akpabio as the Senate President.
Meanwhile, the Director-General of the Stability group, Ali Ndume, stated that senators Kalu and Izunazo, who were major contenders, had also stepped down and endorsed the Akpabio-Barau ticket.
Ndume also noted that Akpabio met with 15 senators-elect from the South-East where the duo reportedly stepped down and endorsed his candidacy alongside their colleagues.
Ndume added that former governors from the North, who hitherto refused to support Akpabio, had also made a U-turn and had given the candidacy their nod. He listed Danjuma Goje, Aliyu Wamakko, Adamu Aliero, among others, who were now on their side.
The Stability Group DG added that Sani Musa, who had coveted the position of the Deputy President of the Senate, had also stepped down and endorsed Jibrin Barau.
Yari-Kalu ticket
Meanwhile, an aide to Senator. Kalu, Emeka Nwala, said his principal had not stepped down for Akpabio, as he had just been made the Deputy Senate President to run with Yari.
Nwala said, “In sha’Allah, Senator Kalu is Yari’s Deputy Senate President and none of them have stepped down. If we have, it would be breaking news by now.
“So anyone who is purporting such a story is lying. How can someone who has the majority of the lawmakers on their side step down for anyone? It’s not possible.”
The source said, “I cannot categorically state that he has stepped down for anyone, but I know there has been a lot of pressure mounted on him to step down.’’
Similarly, a source close to Senator Musa also stated that he had withdrawn his support from Yari’s group but had yet to give credence to the Akpabio’s faction.
The source stated that as a party man, he had withdrawn support but he preferred to maintain neutrality.
The source stated, “ Senator Musa has backed down on his support for the Yari ticket but would not support the Akpabio team. He would rather prefer to be neutral than give them his vote.”
Meanwhile, the National Assembly has been agog with activities in preparation for the 10th Assembly inauguration which is scheduled for today, Tuesday, June 13, 2023.
The lawmakers-elect, comprising 109 Senators-elect and 360 Members-elect, will be officially sworn in respectively to mark the commencement of the 10th Assembly.
Ahead of the inauguration, lawmakers-elect have been accredited and are being assigned to their offices.
The accreditation of lawmakers which started on Sunday at rooms 231 and 224 of the Senate wing is expected to end on Monday night.
Still in preparation, the temporary galleries of both chambers are being prepared for the lawmakers ahead of D-day.
According to the management, unlike in previous years when each lawmaker was allowed with two guests into the gallery, just the lawmakers-elect would be allowed into the National Assembly building but would watch from the arcade already designed and decorated for guests of the lawmakers.
Our correspondent observed that the name tags assigned to the seat of the 9th Assembly lawmakers have been removed.
In the same vein, no fewer than four patrol vehicles and scores of civil defence officials have been deployed to the National Assembly for surveillance.
