APC meeting on senate positions ends in rancour

The meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) senators to deliberate on the people to fill the key positions in the senate ended in rancour, as factions failed to reach a consensus.

The meeting, which held in Abuja on Tuesday, was aimed at choosing the senate majority leader, minority leader, chief whip and deputy chief whip, but ended with lawmakers restraining one another from physical bouts.

Ibrahim Gobir (representing Sokoto east senatorial district) said the APC the senatorial positions had been democratically zoned to different parts of the country, but this was rejected by the pro-Ahmed Lawan Unity Forum.

“When the senate president came, the only thing he said was quite simple, that the senate leadership has been zoned to the northeast, the chief whip has been zoned to southwest, while the deputy senate leader has been zoned to northwest,” Gobir said.

“Then the deputy whip has been zoned to south-south, and luckily, there’s only one [APC] senator there, so automatically, it would go to him and then, some people are complaining that no, this should not be the way it should be done.

“I think it is okay, because what he said is that people should go back to their own zones and come up with one candidate and that is more democratic.”

The rancour that erupted after the meeting was as a result of the Unity forum’s intention to dictate the rest of the senate leadership position.

“The rancour here is that some people feel that should not be the case. The other so-called Unity Group should have everything, and we say that is not correct.”

Suleiman Hunkuyi, representing Kaduna north, said the Bukola Saraki-led ‘Like Minds’ caused the rancour by imposing its will on the APC senators.

“The leadership of the party, which is the APC, still reigns supreme to decide the true position of leadership and we shall have it. Any attempt to do otherwise is to cause confusion,” he said.

“We are just coming from the meeting of the leadership of the party and we are aware that the leadership of the party is doing all it can to settle the differences.

“Therefore, simply put, the cause of the rancour is an attempt by the senate leadership to again force its will on the majority of the senators of the APC.”

Ibrahim Danbaba from Sokoto South said the Lawn-led senators were the reason for the commotion, claiming they arrived towards the end of the meeting and disrupted existing arrangements.

Another senator from the Lawanled group said the matters of senate leadership were the exclusive preserve of the APC for now, and the party leadership had made its decision.

“Matters of leadership within the chamber must be deferred to the leadership of the party. The leadership of the APC has taken a decision for which we are sure that the press would be in the know by the end of the day,” he said.

“Any other position of any section of the caucus of the APC of the senate is only factional in nature. Therefore, for order to prevail, a caucus must have leadership and for now, and until then, the APC national leadership commands the respect and leadership of the APC, not only on the senate caucus but entirely on anything APC.”

During the meeting, the senate president urged the senators to sheath their swords, saying: “I believe that no matter the issues outstanding, they are surmountable and resolvable in the atmosphere of love and understanding.

“We can and shall put the past behind us and we shall all come out of this room, individually and collectively victorious. There is nothing like a winner or loser. Our party, the APC, is the winner and we are all conquerors.”