As the 8th National Assembly is scheduled to be inaugurated next week, the battle for the Senate Presidency has been narrowed down to two major  contestants: Senator Bukola Saraki, from  Kwara Central  and  Senator Ahmed Lawan , Yobe North.

Initially, there were four major contenders for the office but after a intense scheming, two withdrew. They are Senate Minority leader and former governor of Benue State, Senator George Akume and Senator Ali Ndume from Borno State. Akume has since thrown his weight behind Lawan and settled for the post of Deputy Senate President while Ndume on the other hand has teamed up with Saraki with the hope of becoming the Deputy Senate President should Saraki win.

Lawan is enjoying the backing of former governor of Lagos and national leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu while those who are out to checkmate Tinubu’s influence, especially the ‘New PDP’ members in the APC are rooting for Saraki, who actually is one of them. Prominent among these  are the five governors that defected to the APC from the PDP, two of whom are senators-elect, former governor of Kano State, Alhaji Rabiu Kwankwaso and former governor of Sokoto State,  Alhaji  Wamakko.
During the  just-concluded retreat by the APC for its senators-elect, the  two major candidates polarised  the  house into groups; one for Saraki and the other for  Lawan.

Those supporting Lawan’s ambition under the leadership of Senator Barnabas Gemade termed itself as the Unity Forum. The forum has adopted senators Lawan /Akume candidacy while Dino Melaye led a group known as ‘the like minds’ that are in support of Saraki/Ndume ticket.

Tinubu is said to be fighting the battle of his life to ensure that Saraki  did not emerge as Senate president as it would affect his interest in who becomes the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate president.

The race for the senate president became more competitive and interesting when President, Muhammadu Buhari announced openly a few days ago that he did not have a preferred candidate for the position. APC also said it is no longer zoning the position and the House Speaker to any region. The party said   that members of the senate and the House have the right to pick who would lead them.

Political analysts have faulted the position of President Buhari  for not  having  interest in  who   lead the Senate and the House of Representatives as they feel that he ought to  have interest in who emerge as  leaders of  the two  chambers of the National Assembly because he  needed those  who would not serve as stumbling blocks to his administration  but who would complement his efforts  .

Also  former governor of the old Kaduna State, Alhaji  Balarabe Musa has  warned  Buhari  and urged him  to make his interest reflect in the selection of the leadership of the  National Assembly .

According to him, “I think it is wrong to say the president should not have an input in who becomes the president of the senate. He should not impose it but his influence and input is very important because the president of the senate and the president in terms of the supreme interest of the country should work together. I don’t  think it is good for the nation for the president and the senate president to be antagonistic or unable to work together.
“I think they should harmonise their positions. But I think Buhari is just been modest to have said he doesn’t have any candidate for the position of the senate president. And I support that position. But he knows that he cannot succeed with wrong person as the senate president.”

The camps of the two contenders, Saraki and Lawan have however been churning out different figures of those who are in their support among the   members of the 8th senate.

Senate Unity Forum, the group supporting Ahmed Lawan for Senate President and George Akume as deputy, said it has the support of 40 senators-elect of All Progressives Congress APC.

Leader of the group, Senator Barnabas Gemade (APC Benue North-East), stated this last Wednesday, in Abuja.

Gemade also claimed that the group has the support of the majority of the 49 senators of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP.

He said that the group has found Lawan and Akume most qualified for the jobs which is why the senators decided to support them.

Gemade said that their candidacy will ensure stability and improvement which has been enshrined in the conduct of activities at the Senate in the last eight years.

“We are happy to unveil to you that this is the plan that the Unity Forum and the 8th Senate have, and by the Grace of God, we will actualise the plan.

“We have 40 APC senators-elect that have keyed into this project. Other PDP senators-elect have also keyed in to this project.

“We are not publishing the list of all the senators because we know that a lot is being done; a lot of claims are being made, so it is not proper to join anyone in making any claims.

“The day we will give you the list, all those concerned will be present and you will match the list with the faces that will be present,” he said.

Gemade acknowledged that there are a lot of issues to be tackled in the 8th assembly and stressed that that is why the leadership of the National Assembly must lead by example.

Also speaking at the session, Senator Ahmed Lawan (APC Yobe North) assured that the 8th Senate under his leadership will ensure independence of the legislature.

“We have had eight years of stability and I will like to build on that.

“There is need for consensus in the 8th Senate which is unique in the history of Nigeria with 59 APC senators and 49 PDP senators.

“The gap is narrow hence the need for consensus between the two sides.

“The National Assembly must never be a rubber stamp to the executive,” he said.

Lawan also said that he will work to cut down on the cost of governance, fight corruption and partner with other arms of government as well as the legislature in the states.

However, the Saraki camp has also maintained that 35 out of the 59 APC senators have adopted Saraki as the Senate President.

Speaking on behalf of the  ‘Like minds group’,   Senator-elect, Dino Melaye,  said, “Of the 59 senators of the APC, 35 of us  them have reaffirmed their  collective commitment and resolution to ensure that the candidature of Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki as the Senate President of 8th Assembly.

“We have also resolved that the office of the Deputy Senate President be zoned to the North East.”

According to him, “Senators of the like mind are here today at the retreat organised by our dear party, All Progressive Congress, which is meant to equip and empower Senators-Elect of the 8th Assembly to prepare them toward the challenges ahead. We commend the leadership of our party for this timely and well-focused exercise.

“The issue of National Assembly leadership is about integrity, competence, discipline and leadership skills and not about fixing of candidates just for mere horse-trading. Our stand is about electing a senator who eventually becomes the chairman of National Assembly and relates with the executive on behalf of Nigerians, fellow Senators and the National Assembly as an institution.

“Furthermore leadership of National Assembly is about the Senator that has the wherewithal to stabilize the legislative institution, working with the executive and judicial arm of government to be effective and perform to their optimal capacity.”

He further stated that, “In addition, we are aware of the fact that ALL Senators from the North Central zone have taken a firm position that they are only interested in the office of the Senate President which has been earlier zoned by the National Working Committee of our party and we are also aware that North Central Senators have resolved to abide by the resolution of the zone on a single candidate and anything short of this is an attempt to jeopardize the collective interest of the zone.

Also last Tuesday the Chairmen of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the North-Central have adopted Senator Bukola Saraki as their sole candidate for the position of Senate President in the 8th National Assembly.

The party chairmen announced this decision in a communiqué issued at the end of a meeting in Abuja.

According to the chairmen, the decision to adopt Saraki was sequel to the withdrawal of the other contender for the position from the zone, Senator George Akume, from the race.

The zonal chairmen said they were unanimous in their decision that the zone was only interested in the office of the Senate President, which they claimed had earlier been zoned to it by the party’s National Working Committee.

National Secretary of the party, Mai Mala Buni, however denied the existence of any zoning arrangement in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday.

The communiqué noted that since Akume had withdrawn from the race, the zone had no other option but reach the conclusion that Senator Bukola Saraki should be adopted as the sole candidate from the zone.

Signatories to the communiqué are Letep M. Dabang (Plateau State); Alhaji Haddy A. Ametuo (Kogi State), Philips Shekwo (Nasarawa State), Alhaji Usman Malik, (Federal Capital Territory), Jibrin Mohammed (Niger State) and Ishola  Fulani (Kwara State).

The communiqué read in part, “That we are resolute in our collective decision to produce a single candidate from the zone to the office of the Senate Presidency and we abide with same, considering the fact that all our distinguished senators from the zone had equally maintained similar position in their earlier meetings.”

With few days to the inauguration of the Senate barring any last minute  changes the senate president of the 8th  Senate will either be Saraki or Lawan.