10th Assembly: All eyes on Akpabio as Yari aims for upset

The National Assembly is primed for a battle royale as the 10th Assembly is inaugurated today.

After weeks of power play, horse-trading, alignments and realignments, former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio, and former Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, will contest for the Senate presidency.

In the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abass will slug it out with immediate past deputy speaker, Idris Wase, for the speakership.

Akpabio and Abass are the candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, National Working Committee, NWC, for the two top legislative slots. To deputise them are Senator Jibrin Barau and Rep Benjamin Kalu.

A host of aspirants kicked against the party’s choice, which has the backing of President Bola Tinubu. In the Senate, those who kicked included Senators Orji Uzor Kalu, Osita Izunaso and Yari. And in the House of Representatives, a group of lawmakers, known as G-7, opposed the move.

At press time, the bulk of the G-7 had made a U-turn to support Abass, leaving Wase as the last man standing.

At the valedictory session of the 9th House on Wednesday, Wase declared that his speakership ambition was premised on a prophetic utterance of his late political leader and former governor of Plateau State, Chief Solomon Lar.

“Of course, I want to appreciate my political leaders, among whom I would say was Solomon Lar who, when I was contesting in 2007, I went to him and he prophesied the number of times I will come to this Assembly and the number of leadership positions that I will attain, even the deputy speakership and he prophesied that when next I return, and I believe, I will be Speaker and I believe that Insha Allah, I will be the Speaker of the Green Chamber”, Wase declared.

At the moment, it is unknown if Wase had stepped down or will do so before the inauguration of the House today.

The power game raged as Vice-President Kashim Shettima, yesterday, raised the alarm that there are attempts to twist his recent utterances in support of Senator Akpabio to cause disaffection.

Meanwhile, all 55 members-elect from the South-South zone have thrown their weight behind Abass, with Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State saying governors had agreed to support President Tinubu’s choice.

Also, Rep Victor Ogene, leader of the Labour Party caucus and spokesman of the Greater Majority group said its members were left with no alternative but to support the Abass/Kalu ticket by the G-6 aspirants.

However, Yari’s support group has dismissed allegations of inducement against Yari as irresponsible and accused opponents of seeking the arrest of the former Zamfara governor, ahead of inauguration.

This was as the leading opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, said it had not taken a decision on its choice of Senate and House of Representatives minority leaders.

At press time, Akpabio and Yari were locked in a tight race that had divided the senators-elect. Both camps are in a last-minute rat race for signatures of senators-elect. It is difficult to tell who would win the race between the two.

Currently, the Akpabio camp said it has the backing of 70 senators-elect. However, at his supporter’s group meeting at the Lagos Hall of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, only 52 senators-elect attended. Worried by the number, Vice-President Kashim Shettima promised to beg other senators, especially from the North, to support the aspiration of Akpabio and Senator Jibrin Barau.

A group, under the aegis of The Initiatives (an agenda-setting college of former and serving NASS members) and a Coalition of South-South Community for United Nigeria for Justice and Equity, yesterday, urged senators-elect to vote for Akpabio.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja, Dean of the Faculty, Eseme Eyibo, said with Akpabio as President of the Senate, the administration of President Bola Tinubu will deliver on its campaign promises because the 10th Senate, under the leadership of Akpabio, will initiate many reforms that will change the fortunes of the country.

In a counter-claim, Yari’s support group, led by former Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central), who spoke on behalf of Yari at a press briefing, said no fewer than 67 senators-elect were for Yari.

Vice-President Shettima, yesterday, decried attempts at twisting his recent utterances in support of the candidacy of Senator Akpabio as President of the 10th Senate to cause disaffection.

Shettima, in a statement by Abiola Sola, Director of Information in the Office of the Vice President, said his support for Akpabio was not to look down on anybody or a section of the country but to underline the importance of diversity and justice.

His words: “During an interactive session with senators campaigning for the emergence of Senator Godswill Akpabio and Senator Barau Jibrin to lead the 10th Senate, Vice President Kashim Shettima emphasized the nation’s current political structure and made a case for emergence of a Southern Christian and a Northern Muslim as the fairest balance to promote inclusivity at the centre.“Senator Shettima’s statement was motivated by a profound awareness of the divisive factors within our great nation and was in harmony with the governing party’s pledge to ensure inclusivity across all regions and among all groups.”

Sola further stated that Shettima’s statement was “stripped of context and mischievously circulated as an attempt to minimize the suitability of Muslim contestants in the race for the Senate leadership.

According to him, the remarks have not only been taken out of context but also misinterpreted to suit an agenda that sabotages our collective bid for unity.

He said: “What Senator Shettima advocated during the meeting was that considering Nigeria’s President and Vice President are Muslims, it would not be ill-advised for the lawmakers to choose a non-Muslim contestant, even if against a more qualified Muslim option, in order to achieve balance.

“It is alarming that such an unambiguous plea has been unfairly misconstrued to imply that the Vice-President said the most incompetent Christian candidate is superior to a Muslim candidate. One can understand why this absurd interpretation would be found distressing and hijacked by those with a malicious agenda to push.”