10th NASS: Adamu, Tinubu’s cold war may stall Akpabio’s election as Senate President — Sources
The possibility of electing Godswill Akpabio as Senate President of the 10th Assembly appears to be deteriorating due to the cold war between President Bola Tinubu and Abdullahi Adamu, National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
They disagree on political issues, and according to sources neither politician has had a one-on-one conversation with the other since Tinubu took office as president, which is to be expected given their acrimonious relationship.
Therefore, there are concerns among APC hierarchy that Adamu’s reluctance to take action and enforce discipline whereby all candidates within the party who oppose the president’s choice step down is a classic instance of “not my business.”
Recall that Salihu Moh Lukman, the North West Zonal Chairman of the APC, had accused Adamu of working against Tinubu regarding Tinubu’s nominations for the top positions in the 10th National Assembly.
He claimed that despite Adamu’s obligation to support the zoning plan for the 10th Assembly’s main offices, “he is acting as a factional leader opposing the decision of the NWC.”
“He seems to be more interested in ensuring that the 2015 model of rebellious leadership emerges in the 10th National Assembly,” the author continued. “Instead of working for the success of the decision of the NWC through activating meetings of higher organs of the party to confer more legitimacy to the decision of the NWC
It was impossible to reach Felix Morka, the APC spokesman, on several occasions to ask him why the party has failed to coordinate its efforts to produce Akpabio as Senate President on Tuesday.
Tinubu and Adamu However, investigations revealed that some members of the party’s National Working Committee are more focused on the competition for top positions such as ministerial appointments than they are on the fight for control of the National Assembly.
According to sources, Adamu did not choose Akpabio or his ardent supporters in the party leadership, which is a frustrating issue.
A supporter of Murkta Betara who claimed to have joined the APC in its early stages stated that “the National Working Committee of the APC is not bothered because those announced as the choices of the party were those selected by the president,” and that “the party could have shown more interest” if it “had a say” in the decision.
Two days before the 10th Assembly’s inauguration, the development has Godswill Akpabio, a former minister of Niger Delta affairs, perplexed. Advertisements It has not yet been determined whether the coast is clear despite Akpabio’s persistent mobilisation of senators-elect, including former governors who are members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. His attempts to garner bipartisan support haven’t entirely been successful because some opponents are adamant that nothing has changed.
The fact that it was “the president’s choice” and not the party’s, according to a member of the APC National Executive Committee, shows that the conflict between Tinubu and Adamu is still very much alive.
Recall Ahmad Lawan, the Senate’s most recent president, was chosen by Muhammadu Buhari to represent the APC in the 2023 presidential election, according to a May 2022 announcement by Adamu.
It implied that the APC candidate would have been from the North and, had he won, would have succeeded Buhari as president of the region. Despite a purported internal party agreement that a southerner would succeed Buhari, this happened.
The Tinubu camp specifically claimed that he and Buhari had agreed that he would become the candidate after Buhari had to have served out his second term.
Many party members were caught off guard by Lawan’s announcement, which also reignited an old political dispute between Tinubu and Adamu from when the latter was a prominent PDP supporter.
Even though the opposition parties are in the majority in the green chamber, there is a perception within the APC that Adamu is less concerned with who becomes the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Over the weekend, it was learned that Akpabio had been unable to meet with Adamu privately to discuss the situation and ask for his help in coming up with a plan to allow other candidates to withdraw.
This newspaper learned on Sunday that coordinated efforts are being made to defeat Abdul-Azeez Yari, the strongest opponent to Akpabio and the former governor of Zamfara State, by enlisting the support of Orji Uzor Kalu, the Senate’s acting chief whip.
The former governor of Rivers State has been tasked with convincing Kalu to support Akpabio and give up his desire to serve as Yari’s deputy, an Akpabio campaigner said on Sunday. “Yari would not win, so why waste your time,” the campaigner added.
According to sources, less than 40 of the 59 senators in the APC are certain to vote for Akpabio on Tuesday. A few PDP senators are reportedly on his side as well.
The senators still supporting the PDP and other opposition parties, according to his campaigner, are what voters should be most afraid of, “because they are enough to tilt the balance of power.”
A former aide to Wike noted that “his open support may work against Akpabio,” despite the PDP’s claims that it is “keeping its cards close to its chest” and “mobilising other opposition lawmakers” to vote a particular candidate.
He is not permitted to approach other PDP senators-to-be and urge them to support Akpabio.
In any case, a supporter of Akpabio claimed that efforts are still being made to make sure that the party’s National Chairman views the project as “his and the party’s rather than the president’s. She said, “He has to see it that way.
