Missteps that altered APC’s NASS agenda

Saraki and Dogora

Senator Bukola Saraki and Yusuf Dogara emerged as the leaders of the 8th National Assembly against the will of their party.FISAYO FALODI, in this piece, writes about the tactical missteps that disrupted the ruling party’s agenda

The emergence of Dr. Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara as the Senate President and House of Representatives Speaker of the 8th National Assembly came to many people as a surprise. Interestingly, the development defied the calculation of the ruling All Progressives Congress, which has its preferred candidates for the positions.

The APC has majority of seats in the two chambers of parliament.

The race for the leadership of the 8th National Assembly started not long after the APC was declared winner of the March 28 presidential election. As expected, the race led to the formation of various interest groups within the party with each group scrambling to get what it considered the best for it.

The groups’ decision was reinforced by President Muhammadu Buhari’s claim that he would rather prefer the National Assembly members to elect their leaders without any interference.

Interestingly, the now opposition Peoples Democratic Party cashed in on the situation to strategically position itself to gain lofty advantage over the APC, which was struggling to reach a consensus on the Assembly’s leadership. The decision culminated in the PDP’s adoption of Saraki and Dogara for the positions of the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Assembly respectively. It therefore urged PDP members in the National Assembly to vote for the two men

But Tuesday’s emergence of Saraki and Dogara as leaders of the two legislative chambers shocked the APC which had initially selected Senators Ahmed Lawan and George Akume for the office of the Senate President and Deputy Senate President respectively. A former Minority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, and Tahir Monguno, were also selected for the leadership of the House of Representatives as the party’s preferred candidates in a mock election it conducted in Abuja last Saturday.

Saraki, who had initially boycotted the mock election even after signing an agreement earlier in the day with the Lawan group to abide by the outcome of the poll, was said to have continued his intensive lobbying of the PDP lawmakers in the National Assembly for support. Dogara participated in the mock poll, but scored three votes against Gbajabiamila’s 154. Explaining why it boycotted the shadow election, the Saraki’s group, popularly called Like Minds, said it took the decision because of the open ballot system the APC leaders adopted for the process.

The group said in a statement that the option was primitive and undemocratic. It said it “shall not be part of a process that promotes undemocratic electoral process that may result in rancorous and uncivil situation which inhibits the rights of individuals to vote for their choice.”

True to its word, the Saraki’s group boycotted the shadow election while the 8th Assembly Consolidation Group, the assemblage of lawmakers that promoted Dogara’s interest, also walked out of the venue with determination to present their candidates for the leadership of the two chambers of the National Assembly.

Their tactics paid off when the two groups won elections to lead the National Assembly. Saraki was unanimously elected as the Senate President by 57 senators present at the session when the 51 others were at another venue waiting for a meeting with the leadership of the APC. The meeting never held. Analysts have also said that even if Lawan’s supporters had been on the floor of the Senate for the poll, they would have lost. support, the PDP senators were rewarded with the position of the Deputy Senate President which Senator Ike Ekweremadu retained for the third time instead of Senator Ali Ndume, who had also indicated interest in the office of the Senate Deputy President.

Also, the victory of Dogara in the keenly contested election with Gbajabiamila equally sprang a surprise as it stopped the APC’s preferred candidate from assuming the leadership of the House.

As expected, the outcome of the elections, after weeks of horse-trading and lobbying by the two principal officers of the National Assembly, did not go down well with the APC. The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, rejected Saraki and Dogara and described the process that threw them up as unacceptable and treacherous.

The party said, “Senator Bukola and Hon. Dogara are not the candidates of the APC. The party duly met and conducted a straw poll and clear candidates emerged for the posts of Senate President, Deputy Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, supported by a majority of all senators-elect and members-elect of the House of Representatives. All National Assembly members-elect who emerged on the platform of the party are bound by that decision. The party is supreme and its interest is superior to that of its individual members.”

But the PDP saw the emergence of the two principal officers differently. The party said their elections underscored the fact that no section of the country should be neglected in national issues. It said in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, that the emergence of the two leaders was victory for the nation’s democracy.

Though the decision of the APC to downplay the zoning of the positions of the Senate President and Speaker; alleged overbearing posture of the party’s national leaders; failure of the party to bring together all the interest groups within it; and Buhari’s aloofness on the choice of the party’s candidates were cited by observers as some of the factors that worked against the APC’s candidates, watchers of political events described the emergence of the new National Assembly leaders as very interesting. They nevertheless raised fundamental issues that political parties, including the APC should imbibe for them to remain relevant.

The KOWA Party presidential candidate in the last election, Prof. Oluremi Sanaiya, is of the view that too much interference by the APC prevented the party from achieving its plan. She particularly asked the party to deemphasise selection of leaders by allowing the people to exercise the freedom to make their choice.

She said, “We need political parties that will operate according to the best global practices. I believe that it is good to allow members of the National Assembly to decide who their leaders will be without too much interference from their political parties. The emergence of Saraki and Dogara as the President and Speaker of the National Assembly should serve as an important lesson for us to learn.

“Fighting within political parties with diverse interest groups might not be the best for us in this country and I am afraid that this is what has started to be playing out now. The people are beginning to talk about slowness in the pace of activities in the new government that the country has now.”

Sonaiya, however, raised concern that the special interests might hamper the speed with which the newly elected President could deliver governance and move the country forward.

She said, “We need political parties that are not tied to special interest of certain individuals. Let Nigerians be smart and begin to give themselves a different set of paradigms.”

Also, an elder statesman and former governor of old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, believes that the senators and members of the House of Representatives elected their leaders according to the law, saying it would be unfortunate if anyone would want to disagree with the lawmakers’ decisions.

He said, “One thing I want to point out is that the way the Senate President and the Speaker were elected justified the need for the government of national unity because the APC-led government will need the support of the PDP senators to carry out its responsibilities. This definitely justifies the call for the government of national unity.

“The APC senators could not alone elect the Senate President and the APC members in the House of Representatives could not elect the Speaker without the support of their PDP colleagues. So, they should all work together for the development of the country. “The election of the Speaker and the Senate President followed democratic process and that should be understood by the APC. I know the party did not like the fact that its preferred candidates did not emerge as the leaders of the National Assembly, but the party has to accept the reality on the ground. The party should toe the path of the President who had indicated interest in working with the two men. That should be the guideline for the APC and its chieftains.”

The elder statesman, however, decried moves by the APC to sanction the National Assembly leaders, adding that such moves would not promote the interest of the country.

Musa said, “APC should rescind its decision to sanction Saraki and Dogara. Already the situation is tense; the party should desist from what will make the situation become worse.”

A social commentator, Mr. Taiwo Akinlami, was not surprised about the outcome of the inauguration and the emergence of the leaders of the 8th Assembly. He said the APC, which is the amalgamation of different political parties, was characterised by various groups which wanted their interests protected.

Akinlami said, “When there are a lot of interests within a political party, it becomes difficult to aggregate them. Everybody will want his or her interest protected.”

He, however, demanded effective performance from the lawmakers, especially in the areas of assisting the executive to provide security for the citizens.