Ndume named senate leader against APC's wish

Ndume named senate leader against APC’s wish

June 25

12:19 2015

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Bukola Saraki, the senate president, has announced Ali Ndume from Borno south senatorial district as majority leader of the 8th senate.

This is against the preference of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for Ahmed Lawan – the same man that Saraki beat to the post of senate president two weeks ago.

The “rumble” continued as APC senate caucus from the north-east nominated Ndume as senate majority leader and Bala Na’ Allah (Kebbi south) as deputy majority leader by the party’s senate north-west caucus.

Ndume and Na’Allah are strong supporters of Saraki.

Also, Francis Alimikhena from Edo state was nominated by the APC senate caucus in the south-south as deputy chief whip.

Saraki read letters from the caucuses ‎nominating the lawmakers for the positions on the floor of the red chamber. The lawmakers automatically assumed the positions.

As Saraki read the letters‎, some APC senators raised objection, which caused Ike Ekweremadu, deputy senate president, to invoke order 63 of the senate standing orders regarding the conduct of lawmakers at the chamber while the senate president is speaking.

Ekweremadu asked the lawmakers to maintain dec‎orum while the senate president spoke.

Saraki immediately sustained the order by ruling in favour of it.

The drama continued as Kabir Marafa (Zamfara central), APC senator and strong opposer of Saraki, raised a point of order questioning the legality of the letters from the APC senate caucuses read by the senate president.

He argued that Saraki erred by reading the letters from the caucuses while ignoring an earlier letter written to him by John Oyegun, national chairman of the APC on the nomination of principal officers.

Standing on order 28 (1) which has to do with the emergence of principal officers, Marafa posited that the party was greater than any caucus; hence the senate president “betrayed a flaw”‎ by disregarding the party’s letter nominating, Ahmed Lawan (Yobe north) as senate majority leader; Olusola Adeyeye (Osun central) as chief whip.

The principal office vacant at the moment is that of the chief whip.

TheCable gathered that the party’s south-west caucus‎ has endorsed Adeyeye for the position.

Adeyeye appears to be the only pro-Lawan APC senator who has both the blessing of the party and the senate caucus.

Ndume and Na’Allah, who emerged senate majority leader and deputy majority leader respectively, are considered ‎renegades of the APC for going against the party’s wish.

Ndu‎me,in a brief remark, thanked the APC senate caucus for nominating him and called for cooperation from his colleagues.

The senate subsequently adjourned to July 21 after Ndume moved a motion for it; his first motion as senate majority leader.