PUNCH
At least, two former governors, Godswill Akpabio and Abdulaziz Yari, are up against each other in the race for the Presidency of the 10th Senate. DIRISU YAKUBU writes that as the National Assembly picks its leaders today, President Bola Tinubu faces the first test that will define the direction of his presidency
Nigeria’s brand of federalism is unique in many ways. For a President to function optimally and deliver on his electioneering promises with relative ease; there must be a good working relationship between the executive and the legislative arms of government.
Since the return to democracy in 1999, successive presidents have often shown more than a passive interest in those who will become the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Nigerians will not forget in a hurry how the then President, Olusegun Obasanjo, shunned calls for making Chuba Okadigbo the Senate President in 1999 as he opted for Evans Enwerem, who a few months after his emergence, eventually made way for Okadigbo.
Ahead of today’s inauguration of the 10th Senate, President Bola Tinubu is battling to appease those who facilitated his emergence with one form of gratification or the other. At issue is the plum seat of the Senate President which has seen top chieftains of the All Progressives Congress struggling to win the support of the former Lagos State Governor.
The agitation, in the past few weeks, has since taken ethnic and religious colouration as a South-South group led by former Information Commissioner in Edo State, Kassim Afegbua, insists that the contribution of the geo-political zone to the victory of Tinubu should be rewarded with Akpabio as Senate President.
According to him, “Apart from being the treasure base of the nation which powers on the economy, the South-South deserves a firm handshake from the ruling party given the significant role it played in ensuring that Tinubu won the election. Akpabio is the man for this highly coveted office given his vast experience garnered over the years as Governor, Senator, and Minister of the Federal Republic.
“He is a ranking member of the Senate and we all know how he made the ruling party popular in the South-South. One good turn deserves another! There is no better way of appreciating the region than having as the head of the Nigerian parliament, Godswill Akpabio as the Senate President,” he said.
