Senate President blocks APC's move to fill other key positions in NASS

dimeji akinloye

June 25, 2015 12:27 AM

According to the Order, the Majority Leader shall be a senator nominated from the party with the highest number of senators.

Move by some senators of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to read a letter from the party, recommending some senators to occupy specific principal officers of the senate has been rejected by the senate.

APC senator representing Lagos East, Gbenga Ashafa, had urged that the President of the Senate should read on the floor of the chamber the letter from the party, relying on Order 15 of the Senate Standing Order.

“Yesterday, most of the media houses carried a letter that was written by the chairman of our great party, the APC. “We were expecting that that letter which has been received in your office will be read in order to see to the resolution of the party’s leadership tussle,” Ashafa said.

He backed the decision of the party leadership to recommend persons to occupy the other positions exclusively preserved for the party. Quoting from Order 28 (1) he read: “There shall be a Majority Leader of the Senate.

“I believe that that letter should have been read to the hearing of all senators here present. Perhaps that will be the solution to the leadership tussle in the Senate,” he said.

The APC National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, had in a letter dated June 23, recommended Senators to occupy the other principal positions.

The letter recommended Ahmed Lawan as Senate Leader; George Akume, Deputy Senate Leader; Olusola Adeyeye as Chief Whip; and Abu Ibrahim as Deputy Whip.

However, Ibn Na’Allah of the APC, representing Kebbi South, immediately countered the point of order and explained that the nomination should be made “from” the party not made “by” the party.

Responding to Ashafa, the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, who presided over plenary, ruled him out of order and declined to read the said letter.

He said: “I have listened to Senators Ashafa and Na’Allah. Going by the rules and what has been said earlier, I think I will just note what Senator Ashafa has said. “We will leave the matter as that and in that case, rule that out of order.”

Another attempt was made by APC senator Kabir Marafa from Zamfara Central, to question the June 9 election of Saraki and Ekweremadu, but that too was ruled out of order by the President of the Senate.

dimeji akinloye