» APC Moves To Stop PDP's Plot For Senate President «

PDP orders senators to vote one candidate
A few days to the convening of the eighth
National Assembly, the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) has launched a plot to take the
Senate presidency from the All Progressives
Congress (APC) which controls the majority
of senators.
But the APC is not taking chances. It has
summoned a meeting of its lawmakers to
forge a united front.
The plot, if it succeeds, may lead to the
return of outgoing Senate President David
Mark and his deputy Ike Ekweremadu to
their positions.
The PDP has directed its 49 senators to vote
for one candidate when the eighth Senate
convenes.
The APC is left with 59 Senators following
the death of reelected Borno Senator
Ahmed Zanna.
Although APC ought to produce the next
President of the Senate, with its simple
majority, the party has not reached a
consensus.
Senate Committee on Public Accounts
Chairman Ahmed Lawan and Ecology
Committee Chairman Bukola Saraki are
locked in a battle of popularity for the job.
The Nation learnt that PDP leaders at the
party’s retreat in Port Harcourt,the Rivers
State capital, for its senators-elect and
members of the House of Representatives-
elect mooted the idea of the opposition
retaining the senate presidency.
It was gathered that the PDP leaders agreed
that with block votes by its 49 senators, the
party could win the must coveted seat with
a simple majority.
The permutation of the PDP is that APC
might be unable to birdge the gap between
Lawan and Saraki.
A highly-placed source said: “The PDP
leaders held a secret meeting in Port
Harcourt on Monday night to finetune the
plot.
“The development may see Mark and
Ekweremadu joining the race in a ‘tactical
moment’ if the APC remains divided.
“The PDP is seeking to retain the office
because there is no rule which says either
the majority party or the opposition should
produce the president of the Senate.”
The source cited Section 50 (1) of the 1999
Constitution to back the lacuna.
The section says: “There shall be a President
and a Deputy President of the Senate who
shall be elected by the members of that
House from among themselves…”
Apparently sensing the danger in going into
the Senate presidency race divided, the APC
leadership has called a meeting of its
senators and Representatives for tomorrow
in Abuja.
A statement by National Publicity Secretary,
Lai Mohammed inviting the lawmakers to
the meeting did not reveal the agenda. It
only urged them to be punctual at the
International Conference Centre venue.
The meetings with the senators and the
Reps will hold separately.
It was, however, learnt that the meetings
might be used to galvanise a consensus.
As for the PDP, it was learnt that some of its
governors have offered to bankroll the
project to “pay back APC in its own coin for
controlling the Seventh House of
Representatives even when President
Goodluck Jonathan was still in charge”.
Another source added: “We also want to
spring a surprise and prove that anything is
possible in politics. Once Mark and
Ekweremadu are back in the saddle, APC
will need at least the support of 72 or 73
members to remove them.
“If you look at Section 50 (2) (c), the votes
of not less than two-thirds majority of the
Senate are required to remove the President
of the Senate and deputy.”
“The PDP is trying to capitalise on internal
wrangling within APC to realise its agenda.”
A third source however spoke of Plan B by
some PDP leaders bordering on block
votes.
The source added: “What the Port Harcourt
retreat has so far achieved is the need for
PDP senators-elect to vote enbloc based on
prevailing circumstances in the Senate.
“The horse-trading will determine the
direction of PDP bloc votes although the
opposition is waiting in the wing for any
slip.”
In his speech at the retreat in Port Harcourt,
the outgoing President of the Senate, Chief
David Mark, pleaded with PDP members-
elect in the National Assembly to be united.
Mark said: “We must subject our individual
interest to our group interest. In the election
of principal officers of National Assembly,
we must vote in one accord. We must
know that united we stand, divided we fall.
“We must take our destinies in our hands.
We must be ready to provide credible,
vibrant, determined and focused opposition
to the party in power in a manner that
would guarantee development and good
governance.
“In doing so, we must maintain a strong
synergy between our members in the
National Assembly and the National
Working Committee. The PDP is still a
brand all Nigerians know. We just need to
reinvent the wheels and move forward.”