Senate Presidency: Goje’s imminent entry brings new twist

With less than five weeks to the inauguration of the 9th National Assembly, there are new twists in the leadership contest for the federal legislature as pressure mounts on Senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje to officially declare for Senate President, Daily Trust can report. It was gathered that in the last few days, a lot of things have come up that may shape the leadership contest and affect the chances of some of the contenders.

The All Progressives Congress (APC), which already has a comfortable majority in both chambers, had zoned the two major positions in the National Assembly, Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Northeast and Southwest respectively. The party adopted current Senate Leader Ahmad Lawan (APC, Yobe) for the Senate President’s position and House Leader Femi Gbajabiamila (APC, Lagos) for the Speaker’s seat.

While Lawan’s endorsement came over a month ago, Gbajabiamila’s came a fortnight ago during a dinner attended by President Muhammadu Buhari and APC reps-elect. Since his endorsement, Lawan appears to be having a safe ride until in the last few days when Goje (APC, Gombe), who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, was said to have finally made up his mind to join the contest. In the last few weeks, Goje has come under intense pressure from different groups within the APC as well as some of his colleagues, most of whom have been pressing him secretly to contest. Sources told Daily Trust that Goje would in the next couple of days publicly declare for the Senate President’s seat and would come out with full force.

Goje’s delay in making public his intention to contest was attributed to the non-passage of the 2019 budget. However, with the passage of the budget on Tuesday, all appears to be set for Goje to tell the world his readiness to go for the seat. It was also learnt that Goje’s resolve to contest was not out of disrespect for the APC but that since the party zoned the position to the Northeast where he comes from, he felt he is qualified to go for the seat. But it remains to be seen if he will succeed. The North East Consultative Forum (NESF) and five other groups in the geopolitical zone have endorsed Goje for the position.

The North East forum, after rising from an emergency meeting held in Bauchi, urged Goje to immediately declare for the position. The five other groups include the North East Elders Mobilisation Forum, APC National Youth Caucus, Borno Discussion Circle, Gombe Political Associations and North East Youth Awareness for good governance.

They wrote a letter dated April 17 to the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, on their endorsement of Goje.

“Following very wide consultations among stakeholders, party members and the North East Consultative Forum after a careful assessment of his contributions to the party and Muhammadu Buhari’s led administration, we hereby present to you, Senator Muhammad Danjuma Goje as the choice of the people of the North East for the Senate President of the 9th Assembly,” they said in the letter. Also, the North Central Alliance for Danjuma Goje, while endorsing the former Gombe State governor, said: “The intimidating profile of the Gombe Central senator kept rising like one bright star in a million galaxies. Senator Goje, who is eminently qualified, has demonstrated to his constituents that providing good governance is not rocket science.”

Added to that is the new twist in the endorsements and counter-endorsements of another of Lawan’s main challengers and a former Senate Leader, Mohammed Ali Ndume (APC, Borno), who has been vociferous in his campaigns. While Lawan has been campaigning openly since his official declaration for the seat, Goje has been reportedly campaigning underground, trying to poach some APC members who had publicly declared support for the Senate Leader. On the other hand, Ndume, in the last few days has upped his game, and there are claims that he has about 40 senators backing him secretly. While Ndume is said to be a threat to Lawan’s ambition, many believe that the actual bigger threat is Goje, a former two-term governor of Gombe State, who is reported to have the sympathy of PDP.

Goje, it is believed, may cast spanners in the works for Lawan’s emergence as Senate President, though none of them appears to be leaving any stone unturned. Lawan had also in the past couple of days got endorsements from both elected senators and groups outside the National Assembly. For example, Borno State governor Kashim Shettima said Borno people were behind Lawan’s candidature. Also, days ago, the North Central APC governors, after a meeting in Abuja, said they endorsed Lawan and Gbajabiamila in line with what the APC adopted.

The All Progressives Youths Forum (APYF) and several other groups said Lawan’s candidature is the best for a smooth relationship between the executive and the legislature during the next administration. APYF said during a visit to Lawan in Abuja that he should naturally occupy the Senate President’s seat because of his vast experience of legislative business and the fact that he is the most senior/ranking APC senator in the National Assembly. In another twist, the Concerned Borno Citizens said through their spokesman, Yakubu Kwangyang Umar, that they were with Ndume and that the state governor only spoke his mind and not the minds of Borno people. “It is rather surprising that while the state is counting on the governor’s support for Senator Ndume, he is clearly seen working against the aspiration,” Umar said. This came even as Ndume denied reports that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had asked him to forget about his ambition.

In the House of Reps, Gbajabiamila’s official endorsement by the APC brought about new twists. First, one of the major contenders for the speaker’s seat, Ahmed Idris Wase from Plateau State, seemed to have backed out of the race being from the Northcentral. After endorsing Gbajabiamila, APC zoned the position of the Deputy Speaker to the Northcentral, and it is believed that the party was targeting Wase for the seat. Though Wase was said to have complained at the meeting that his name was not mentioned for the deputy speaker’s seat, he was later seen in pictures with Gbajabiamila after having a short meeting that same night after an earlier meeting with Buhari. The Plateau lawmaker has since suspended all campaigns relating to his speakership ambition.

Thus, the coast seems clearer for Gbajabiamila, whom some believe would have had a tough time with Wase in the contest. So far, everything seems to be working well for Gbajabiamila as over 178 new members-elect including some members of the PDP, APGA and SDP among others publicly endorsed the House Leader for the speaker’s seat. But another twist came up on when John Dyegh, an APC member and rep-elect from Benue State, publicly declared for the speaker’s seat, daring his party. John Dyegh, an ally of Sen. George Akume, said he remained loyal to the APC but that based on the outcome of the meeting held with Buhari, the North-central was not convinced on why the position should be zoned to the Southwest, which already has a vice president. “I hereby declare my intention to vie for the position of Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives.

The decision is based on my unyielding faith in a united and prosperous Nigeria,” he said. Similarly, another contender, Mohammed Umaru Bago from Niger State, said there was no point during the meeting held with Buhari where the speaker’s position was micro-zoned to Gbajabiamila.

“For us, therefore, there is no retreat, no surrender in our demand for equity and justice in the zoning arrangement, and the ultimate desire of many members-elect to be allowed to choose their own leaders,” Bago said through the spokesman of his campaign organisation, Victor Ogene. Other contenders such as Abdulrazak Namdas (APC, Adamawa) and Muktar Aliyu Betara (APC, Borno), were reported to remain in the race, but the fact that the Senate President has been zoned to their Northeast zone remains their albatross. The chances of another contender, Babangida Ibrahim (APC, Katsina), are said to be dimming as he hails from the same state with Buhari.

Thus, it is believed that Gbajabiamila may have his way in the end since it appears he has no strong challenger like Speaker Yakubu Dogara in the contest who defeated him with a slim margin in 2015 to clinch the position. It is believed that for Gbajabiamila to poll 174 votes to Dogara’s 182, with only eight votes separating the two four years ago, this time around, it may be a walkover for the Lagos lawmaker since he looks stronger in the present contest.