APC finalises decision on Lawan, Ndume

The APC Wednesday said there is no going back on its decision to make Sen Ahmed Lawan the preferred candidate for the position of the Senate President for the 9th Assembly had been taken.

It added the zoning formula for the remaining positions in the Senate and those in the House of Representatives was still being worked out.

Another APC senator angling for the top job has been threatening to upset the arrangement, an experience similar to the out-going Senate President Bukola Saraki’s in 2015. The party let things slide then. But not now.

“We have decided who will be the next Senate President according to what democratic principles allow and that person is Senator Ahmed Lawan,” said the party’s National Publicity Secretary Lanre Issa-Onilu in Abuja.

“That has been done and announced, it is left for the party to cross the‘t’s and dot the ‘i’s to get that sorted out.

He said the party is not going to share powers, including what the PDP people call juicy committees headed by the PDP lawmakers and those of the APC that failed to return.

“We don’t need them to head any committee where they are going to compromise the promises we have made to Nigerians.

“Nigerians cannot give us a mandate and we will go and give part of it to those they have rejected. We cannot betray the people of this country and we will never do it. The zoning arrangement for all the other positions is in the works.

“Just as the media and Nigerians have been informed about who our preferred candidate for the Senate Presidency is, we will come out to tell you what the zoning formula will be for the remaining positions in the Senate and also in the House of Representatives very shortly.”

The party spokesman said the APC had decided to go beyond zoning to identify candidates who were fit for the positions.”

In reaching the decision, he said there was nationwide consultation among party leaders.

According to him, the presidential system of government being practised in Nigeria encourages the “winner to take all.”

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“I have listened to the PDP and in their usual style, they exhibited gross ignorance. What we practise in Nigeria is called presidential system of government. In this type of government, it is winners take all. Once you win, you take whatever you want. There is no room for power sharing,” he said.

“They were banking on the experience of the last four years when some traitors within the APC fold sold our birthright to an opposition party. Some people now took that to be the new norm. It is not. In fact, that action was not democratic. It was treachery. “

The party spokesman also said the APC did not envisage any election on the floor of the National Assembly.

He said names of the preferred candidates would only be read to them.

“We have enough number to elect all our officers. We don’t need a single vote from the PDP. In any case, we don’t actually envisage any election on that day because we are going to present our members that will occupy these positions.

“All our members are very experienced politicians who understand what this means. When we get to the floor, we are going to read out the names. If the PDP so desire, it can bring its candidates up. Since the party does not have the number, it will be an exercise in futility for the PDP to nurse the ambition to share from what Nigerians have taken away from them.

“There are positions for minority parties; the APC will not contest those positions with minority parties. They belong to them.”

Isa-Onilu said Senator Ali Ndume’s position on the party leadership endorsement of Lawan as the Senate president was not wrong, saying the dissenting senator was merely expressing his fundamental right.

He, however, said since he had signed to be a member of the APC, he must be ready to abide by the position of the party.