TOPE FAYEHUN writes on the quest of the Southwest geo-political zone to produce the Deputy Senate President in the forthcoming National Assembly.
Another political battle may be awaiting the senators elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the leadership of the party over who gets what in the forthcoming ninth Senate, particularly, the Senate President and Deputy Senate President.
A few days after the Presidential and National Assembly elections, there were indications that the ruling party may have zoned the Senate Presidency to the North Eastern part of the country, while the Southwest region got the Deputy Senate President seat.
Going by the results released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after the National Assembly election, the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress, APC has the highest number of senators both new and old. It has 64 senators.
While the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has a total of 40 senators, the Young Progressive Party (YPP) has one bringing the total of senators presently on ground to105, with five yet to be declared in Imo, Taraba, Ondo and Plateau states.
However, according to Senate Rule, only ranking senators will be selected to be the presiding officers and APC being the party with the majority, the candidate may come from within its caucus.
This same scenario was played out in the ruling party, aftermath of 2015 general elections when the incumbent, Dr. Bukola Saraki, was elected as President of the Senate after garnering the block support of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and some APC senators who broke rank with their party against Senator Ahmad Lawan who was the adopted candidate of the governing party.
In the same vein, APC had also adopted the Deputy Minority leader of the Senate in the 7th Senate, Senator George Akume as the Deputy Senate President for the election that was won by the current Deputy Speaker, Dr. Ike Ekweremadu, because the party failed to put its house in order.
However, a similar political battle is ahead of the APC as unconfirmed report indicates that Senator Ahmed Lawan (Yobe State), Senator Ali Ndume (Borno State), Senator Adamu Abdullahi (Nasarawa State) and a host of others are currently jostling to clinch the position, while the likes of Prof. Ajayi Boroffice (Ondo State), Senator Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos State) and Senator Teslim Folarin (Oyo State) are eyeing the Deputy Senate President seat.
A source informed LEADERSHIP that other principal positions such as Majority Leader, Deputy Majority Leader, Chief Whip and Deputy Chief Whip in the Red Chamber have been zoned to the North-west, North Central, South-South and Southeast zones, respectively.
The source stated that: “The latest from the APC is that there is a zoning arrangement the party wants to implement, which the leaders seem to have agreed on. Going by that, the North-East will produce the Senate President while the South-West will produce the Speaker.
“The South-East and South-South would be included at certain levels. It will be planned the same way it was done in 2015. Now that the South-West will produce deputy senate president, the race is now between three ranking members from the geo-political zone, Teslim Folarin, Oluremi Tinubu, and Ajayi Boroffice.”
According to the source, the reason behind the move was to guide against a re-occurrence of what happened to the party in 2015, when the principal officers of the 8th Senate emerged without any input from the party.
The run-up has witnessed extensive political horse trading with APC top echelon holding marathon meetings to decide who gets what in the leadership of the National Assembly, especially Senate President and other principal offices.
However, analysts opined that the South-west geo-political zone deserves the position zoned to her because of her immense contribution to the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari.
They are of the opinion that despite the challenges encountered by the party in some states in the zone, the party still managed to beat the opposition with over 2 million votes and secured about 14 seats in the Red Chamber.
Observers said the most tenable position, therefore, remains the APC leadership’s zoning of the Deputy Senate presidency to the South-west. They noted that the decision is not only the politically wise thing to do by the party, considering that the next election is only a mere four years away, but is also in the interest of equity and fairness.
However, some ranking senators from the zone have started jostling and moving round to solicit the support of their colleagues in order to achieve their aim.
Those who have indicated interest include Prof. Ajayi Boroffice (Ondo Central), Senator Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central) and Senator Teslim Folarin (Oyo Central).
Although there are speculations that Senator Olubunmi Adetumbi from Ekiti State may also throw his hat into the ring, he is yet to come out, unlike others who have made their intention known. LEADERSHIP gathered that the Ekiti born politician may likely join the race immediately he secures the blessing of his governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, despite being a second timer.
For instance, Senator Oluremi Tinubu has made her intention known to the general public that she will be vying for the position. At an interactive session with newsmen in her house, she said: “We’ve been governor before. When my husband was governor I also was the first lady of the state. This is my third term as a senator.
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“So, who said I cannot aspire to become Senate President? I don’t want to be Senate president but I have always wanted to become the deputy senate president, because I have a lot of responsibility that I want to carry out.”
She added that, as a woman, “I have to always balance my life. This tells us that a woman can be married and always have a job, so, my home constituency has a lot of weight. That is why I am not pushing too much.”
The wife of the National Leader of the party is an educationist, administrator, philanthropist, and Officer of the Order of the Niger, OFR. She founded the New Era Foundation—a non-profit organisation, dedicated to youth development, girl-child education, women empowerment and inspiring young persons to excellence.
Over the years, this forthright role model has made a tremendous impact on the lives of several people and institutions within and outside Nigeria.
As senator representing Lagos Central Senatorial District, besides pushing bills and motions on the floor of the Senate and in committee rooms, she has also impacted largely on her constituency through programmes directed at widows (Widows Economic Empowerment Scheme, WEES), Petty Traders Empowerment Capital Scheme, PETECS and the Good Boys and Girls Empowerment Scheme, GBEGES and through educational and other Senate zonal intervention programmes.
But analysts observed that she has no senator as a friend who can run around for her in order to achieve her aim. According to pundits, on several occasion, she had an altercation with so many senators who should have ordinarily be of help to her this time. They noted that many senators may not accept her, except her husband use his influence as the national leader to galvanize support for her ambition.
Apart from that, she is from Lagos State where the Vice President came from and the same senatorial district with Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila who was said to have been pencilled down for the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Prof. Ajayi Boroffice
Prof. Roberts Ajayi Boroffice has also won his third-time election to the upper legislative chamber. The former academic and senator of Ondo North constituency, carve his path to prominence aided by superior intellect and the will of a quiet revolutionary.
According to political observers, Boroffice is a leader who is gifted enough to inspire competence and confidence and he has the capacity to be truly intimate and relate with his people’s needs.
Boroffice’s political savvy and experience dwarf all other contenders’; so far, he has shown that he is capable of performing superbly under stress. He is the only candidate capable of making informed decisions based on his wide and very rich experience in public service.
He is perceived, rightly, as a peacemaker and an excellent mediator, when the citizenry’s interests are at stake either at home or abroad.
In 2004, for his outstanding service to the Nigerian people, Boroffice was conferred the title of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) by President Olusegun Obasanjo. In March 2011, he was given the 2011 Golden Merit Award in Space Science by the World Federation of Science Journalists.
The public rating of the academic and lawmaker has, however, shot up in the last few years, a development not unconnected to his popularity within and beyond his Ondo North constituency.
Pundits describe him as a strong member of the ruling party in Ondo State where at a time, the only elected member of the party from the state. At a presidential rally in Akure, the state capital, the President, Muhammadu Buhari, described him as his friend due to his loyalty to the party in the trying time.
According to analysts, in 2015, the leadership of the Senate offered him chief whip, a position he rejected after consultation with the party leaders across the country. Despite the strong opposition from his state governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, Boroffice still went ahead to deliver APC in his four Akokos and subsequently won the senatorial election with a wide margin.
However, barring any last minute change of plans, Boroffice, according to sources within the APC, may likely emerge as APC’s candidate for the position since nothing of such position as ever come from that axis.
Senator Teslim Folarin
Eight years after losing return ticket as a two-term senator and majority leader of the Senate between 2007-2011, Senator Teslim Folarin has just returned to the Red Chamber.
Folarin who was in the Senate between 2003 and 2007 and again, between 2007-2011, when he became the leader of the Senate, is among those eyeing the position of Deputy Senate President in the ninth Senate.
He has been nationally tested, as one who pioneered change in the Senate of Nigeria as Senate Leader, a position that made him the highest ever political office holder from Oyo State; worked to the highest level in the civil service in the United Kingdom which makes him adept at international best practices; and interacted with the highest level of party apparatchik.
With all the qualifications stated, pundits, however, said he may not be trusted because, at present, APC as a party is unwilling to nominate anybody from PDP extraction to the Senate leadership because of the crises that engulfed the party based on the term as ‘wrong leadership’ in the eight senates. No doubt, the issue of loyalty will come to play if the party will eventually consider him for the position.
Recall that after Folarin failed in a third term bid in 2011, he secured the governorship ticket of the PDP in 2015, but came a distant fourth. So, most of the leaders in the party at the national level don’t see him as part of them, apart from those who came from Oyo State or at most, few leaders from the Southwest.
