6 things to expect as lawmakers resume on September 25
With the locks of the National Assembly set to be taken down, all political bets are off.
Senate President, Bukola Saraki (left) and Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu (right)
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![Speaker of the House and the state Governor Sheriff Oborevwori. [NAN]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'100'%20height%3D'100'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "Speaker of the House and the state Governor Sheriff Oborevwori. [NAN]")
For weeks, the ruling All Progressives' Congress (APC) has called for Senate President, Bukola Saraki, to reconvene the national assembly with threats of impeachment hovering over him.
The senate president has kept the baying mob at arm's length for weeks while the locks on the National Assembly remained intact.
However, those locks are set to come off as lawmakers will resume legislative sessions next week on Tuesday, September 25, as scheduled.
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With the resumption just days away, it's worth talking about all the things that are set to happen.
1. To impeach or not?
Since the National Assembly went on recess, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has dumped the ruling APC and returned to the People's Democratic Party (PDP), and is in the running for the party's presidential ticket.
This has attracted calls for him to step down as leader of the National Assembly with threats that he'll be impeached otherwise. The ruling party, spearheaded by its national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, has been boasting about having enough lawmakers to impeach Saraki while Saraki has been boasting that such a thing is impossible.
With the Senate set to resume, Saraki's position as president is back under the spotlight and it's time for Nigerians to finally find out who has the numbers to have the last laugh.
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Senate President, Bukola Saraki
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2. Defection floodgate will likely reopen
Just before the National Assembly embarked on recess in July, around 50 lawmakers in the upper and lower legislative chambers dumped the APC, with most heading to the PDP.
Since they commenced the recess, there's been a move here and a move there, with Senator Godswill Akpabio most notably dumping the PDP for the APC.
Recently, the PDP has been boasting that it has more APC lawmakers, and governors, who are willing to defect and are just biding their time.
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Resumption day is as good as any to throw up some defection drama and it'll be unsurprising to see lawmakers shuffle parties next week and come up with even more lame excuses than have already been used.
3. Let the new Senate President stand up
Godswill Akpabio
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If Saraki's impeachment is successful, it means the Senate will brace itself for a new face at the helm of affairs. Since he's Senate Majority Leader, SenatorAhmed Lawan is the favourite to be elected the new Senate President.
However, Akpabio has also been touted as a likely candidate to take the job if Saraki gets taken out.
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4. Speaker Dogara also faces chopping block
Unwilling to let the upper legislative chamber have all the fun, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, will have some impeachment drama of his own to deal with on Tuesday.
The lawmaker followed in Saraki's footsteps and dumped the APC for the PDP last week and is already facing impeachment threats from the ruling party.
Despite his very public animosity with the party, Deputy Speaker, Yusuf Lasun, has not followed Dogara to the PDP and might be favourite to replace him as Speaker if he gets impeached by the APC-majority chamber (pending possible defections, anyway).
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara
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The entire leadership of the National Assembly might get a major facelift by the end of Tuesday.
5. To resign or not?
This ranks really low on a list of things to happen, expecially because Saraki has stated explicitly that he won't resign, but you can't completely bet against the Senate President resigning on Tuesday before he can be possibly impeached.
Get them before they get you.
6. A new Dino Melaye song?
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Whichever way the wind blows for Saraki next week, his BFF, Senator Dino Melaye, can be trusted to bring some spice into the mix with his infamous artistic fervour.
You cannot rule out a new Dino Melaye studio mix with all the drama Nigerians are set to face next week.
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