PDP Plotting Secret Voting To Take Over 9th National Assembly, APC Senators-elect

• Furore in opposition party over NASS leadership
•Ekweremadu, Melaye in contention for minority leader

Some All Progressives Congress (APC) Senators-elect are
suspecting the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of plotting a secret
ballot voting system to hijack the leadership of the National
Assembly.

APC senators-elect, who pleaded anonymity, said the PDP was
perfecting this plot ahead of the inauguration of the 9th session
in June.

There is disquiet in PDP itself as interest groups root for
different candidates as the next minority leader of the Red
Chamber.

Three candidates are already in contention for the position.
They are the current deputy senate president Ike Ekweremadu,
Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) and Senator Ayo Akinyelure (Ondo
Central).

An APC senator-elect accused the PDP of “already laying
political landmines in the path of APC” with a view to having the
legislative gavel by proxy.

The source said: “While the opposition party cannot reinvent the
wheel in terms of the colouration of the legislature during the 9th
session of National Assembly, it is trying to foist on the winning
party, the Senate in particular, APC candidates that would do its
bidding, using the Rule Book of National Assembly to achieve
it.

“In implementing the plan, members of the opposition, with a
large war chest made available by those being investigated by
anti-corruption agencies, are ready to infiltrate National Assembly
bureaucracy to perfect their plan.”

A ranking APC Senator said: “PDP is using their chieftains. They
will begin the implementation of the two-pronged plan by engaging
the top echelon of National Assembly bureaucracy and some APC
Senators-elect for their buy-in on the need to continue the use of
the forged 2015 Rule Book, especially its secret ballot provision,
which paved the way for the emergence of the current Senate
President, Bukola Saraki against the directives of his then
party-APC

“You know the former Clerk of the Senate allowed the forged Rule
Book to be used during the inauguration of the 8th Senate as he
capitalised on the absence of APC Senators in the red chamber and
to complicate the situation Senator Saraki insisted on using the
forged book after he was sworn in as the Senate President.

“Remember that secret voting provision was smuggled into the
forged Rule Book used for the 2015 elections despite our protest
because secret voting is alien to parliamentary practices. When it
comes to voting in the parliaments worldwide, open voting is
used.

“What is now expected of the current Clerk of the National
Assembly is not to use the forged book for the inauguration of the
9th Session of the Senate, come June this year.

“What happened in 2015 inauguration will not repeat itself
because we shall all be present during this year’s inauguration and
we shall not allow the forged Rule Book to be used. We will insist
on open voting as practised in all parliaments in the world and the
National Assembly bureaucracy has already been put on notice.”

A senator-elect explained: “We underrated the capacity of PDP to
go to any length to achieve its aims and objectives during 2015
elections of presiding officers of the National Assembly while we
were totally naïve about the crucial role of the bureaucracy in the
scheme of things in the legislature, a situation that turned the
table in favour of the opposition despite being in the minority. We
are aware of their political manoeuvres and ready to expose sources
of funds for their National Assembly intervention.”

Ekweremadu, Melaye in contention for minority
leader

Three Senators elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) are leading the race for the Minority Leader position
in the forthcoming 9th session of the Senate, according to feelers
from the party.

Topping the list is the outgoing Deputy Senate President Ike
Ekweremadu.

Also in contention are Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) and
Senator Ayo Akinyelure (Ondo Central).

Rooting for each of them are diverse groups in the PDP.

Sources told The Nation that while the party leadership appears
to be heavily in favour of Ekweremadu emerging as minority leader
in view of his vast experience, some other groups in the party have
different ideas on who should occupy the position.

The party leadership’s decision, it was gathered, may not be
unconnected with the desire for a strong personality to lead the
PDP in the next dispensation, as part of a larger plan to hijack
the leadership of the National Assembly at an appropriate time.

A party chieftain from the Southeast said the PDP believes
Ekweremadu has the ability to keep the APC on its toes.

“The PDP plans to give the ruling All Progressives Congress
(APC) serious opposition in the next dispensation,” the party
chieftain said.

“We want to prove that we have what it takes to be taken serious
as a real alternative to the APC by Nigerians. We can only do these
when we live up to the people’s expectation from an opposition
party, especially in the national assembly.

“To this end, we have considered that the current leadership of
our party in the Senate, as represented by the highest ranking
senator there, Senator Ekweremadu, be retained in the 9th assembly.
We are sure that if he remains the leader of the PDP senators, the
APC will be kept on its toes until we take over the assembly.”

Another party leader said Ekweremadu “solidly fits the bill. We
need a man like him to stand up to the APC senators.”

But PDP stakeholders in the Southwest and the Northcentral are
projecting other senators for the plum opposition job.

One source said: “it is incorrect to say there is any crisis in
the PDP over this issue.

“Yes, people are suggesting various opinions as regards who
should be the Minority Leader even when the party’s national
leadership is advocating a particular direction for obvious
reasons.

“But other opinions are welcome and that should not be
interpreted to mean there is a crisis.”

Some interest groups in the Southwest recently cautioned the PDP
leadership against taking the position of Minority Leader away from
the zone.

The Southwest PDP Frontiers (SWPF), led by Asipa Iyanda Adeoye
Ogunfojuri, in a statement by him and Ameen Adekanye warned the
party against repeating the alleged ill-treatment meted out to the
zone during the struggle for the position of national chairman.

“We are speaking out early enough to avoid being told that we
kept mute when it mattered, for that was what we were told after
the Southwest was disgraced out of the PDP national chairmanship
race,” they said.

“The position of Minority Leader in the senate is currently
being held by the Southwest, and since nothing has changed as
regards the zoning at the national level, it shouldn’t be taken
away from us.

“It is worrisome to see that the body language of many of our
leaders suggests the possibility of the position being used to
compensate another zone for whatever reason.

“The Southwest will no longer agree to be sacrificed within the
opposition party, more so when we have eminently qualified persons
that can serve in the said capacity.”

The Nation also gathered that some PDP stakeholders from the
Northcentral recently met leaders of the party in the zone and
expressed their desire to have Senator Dino Melaye supported to
lead the PDP caucus in the senate.

According to sources, the stakeholders pleaded with the leaders
against supporting any arrangement that denies the zone a chance to
produce the next Minority Leader of the Red Chamber.

“The Northcentral too is pushing for Dino Melaye. In their
opinion, the Kogi West senator is eminently qualified and equipped
to lead other PDP senators. They also argued that since the zone
will be losing the senate presidency currently held by Senator
Bukola Saraki, it is just proper that it be compensated with the
Minority Leadership in the interest of equity,” our source
added.

When the 9th assembly is convened, the Southeast PDP will have
at least 11 Senators having lost one seat each in Anambra, Abia and
Imo states. One other seat in Imo is still in contention.

The Southsouth PDP will have about 15 senators following the
loss of one seat each too in Bayelsa, Edo and Delta states. Party
sources said the majority of the senators from the two zones may
support the party’s choice.

The Southwest boasts of only three PDP senators-elect.

The party got a senate seat each in Ondo, Oyo and Osun states
during the last national assembly elections. Dr. Kola Balogun was
elected to represent Oyo South while Chief Francis Fadahunsi will
be representing Osun East. Both are first timers.

Senator Ayo Akinyelure (Ondo central) is returning for a second
term.

He was first elected in 2011, but lost his re-election bid in
2015. He is a ranking senator and sources say he is the candidate
of many Southwest PDP leaders and chieftains for the position of
Senate Minority Leader in the next dispensation.

“He is the man they want as replacement for current Senate
Minority Leader, Biodun Olujimi, who will not be returning to the
senate,” said a party source.

The Northcentral will have about five senators in the next
dispensation as it could only manage to add a seat each from Kogi
and Plateau states to the clean sweep it got in Benue State. The
surprise loss of all the three senatorial seats in Kwara, including
that of Senate President Bukola Saraki, depleted its numerical
strength in the Senate.

Melaye will be the only ranking senator from the zone in the 9th
assembly. Senators-elect Gabriel Suswam (Benue northeast), Yisa
Orker-Jev (Benue northwest) and Abba Moro (Benue south) are all
going to the Senate for the first time.

Another fresher is Istifanus Dung from Plateau north.

This perhaps informed the choice of Melaye as the candidate of
some major stakeholders in the zone.