The race for the presidency on the ninth Senate has been narrowed down to Senator Ahmed Lawan; the APC anointed candidate and Senator Ali Ndume, following the withdrawal of Senator Danjuma Goje from the race at the weekend. As Lawan and Ndume continue to claim support from senators-elect, enough to see them through on Tuesday, the Lawan camp, in an unprecedented show of force came out Sunday night to openly display the list of 98 senators who have purportedly endorse his candidacy. The Ndume camp countered that endorsements are not actual votes, saying he would be vindicated at the ballot box. Determined to present a united front in the race for the Senate, Ndume, has come under intense pressure from the Presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to drop out of the contest. But Ndume has rebuffed pleas that he should emulate Goje, saying he was in the race to win.
A public shouting match erupted between the two contenders after a meeting of the main opposition PDP national assembly caucus failed to reach consensus for a block vote for any of the candidates aspiring to become president of the 9th National Assembly. No communique was issued at the end as the meeting, which took place at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, ended abruptly. Not a single one of the PDP senators-elect attended the meeting. The PDP leader in the 8th Senate, Enyinnaya Abaribe, who heads the PDP National Assembly caucus, was also absent.
A spanner was thrown into the works prior to the meeting after five returning PDP senators-elect: Peter Nwaoboshi (Delta), Clifford Ordia and Mathew Origheade (both Edo) and Abba Moro (Benue) announced their endorsement for Lawan, who claimed to have the support of 60 APC and 38 PDP Senators-elect. Lawan, who made the disclosure at his public endorsement by 60 All Progressives Congress (APC) Senators-elect in Abuja, declared that most of the PDP Senators were working for his emergence as the presiding officer of the Ninth Senate.
“Let me start by paying tribute to very distinguished PDP senators, who have identified with us. Many of them are working for us. It was a conscious decision not to have their signatures for endorsement in this paper. Theirs is a sacrifice recognized by all of us. And I can tell you that out of the 44 PDP (senators-elect), we cannot have less than 38 senators-elect supporting us. And we are looking forward to a time that we will all sit like this with everyone.”
For his colleagues in the APC, the Senator emphasized that his endorsement was the first time legislators of a particular political party “would come together in this unanimous way to endorse a candidate for the office of a Presiding Officer. “Out of the 62 with returned certificates in APC, 60 have signed here. But you know we will love to have the 62 sign. We are a family. And we will not get tired of talking to people because we want to get there united, focused and perform for the sake of our people. We are not prepared to go and start fighting amongst ourselves. We will do everything possible to bring everybody on board, because we don’t want distraction”.
According to him, Nigeria needs a legislature that would do its work of representing the people of the country “and ensuring that we address those issues that are agitating the minds of Nigerians as to do otherwise will be to fail and we are not prepared to fail.” Lawan said his endorsement by his colleagues spoke volumes and showed that he was not imposed on the lawmakers.
Said he: “The trouble we have gone through tells a story that we are not an imposition, because everybody here wrote his or her name and signed. We have been working extremely hard, talking to each and every senator-elect to say this is who we are”.
Speaking earlier, Secretary of the Ahmad Lawan for 9th Senate President, Senator Barau Jubrin (Kano North) had read out the names of the 60 APC Senators-elect that endorsed Lawan as contained in six pages personally signed by the lawmakers with red biro.
The list include Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central), Barau Jibrin (Kano North), Francis Alimikhena (Edo North), Solomon Adeola (Lagos West), Aliyu Abdullahi (Niger North), Olubunmi Adetumbi (Ekiti North), Ibrahim Gobir (Sokoto East), Robert Borrofice (Ondo North), Sadiq Umar (Kwara North), Yakubu seni (Kogi Central), Adelere Orilowo (Osun West), Biobarakuma Degi-Eremenyo (Bayelsa East), Bulus Amos (Gombe South), Hezekiah Dimka (Plateau Central), Ignatius Longstan (Plateau South), Halliru Jika (Bauchi Central), Kabiru Gaya (Kano South), Ajibola Basiru (Osun Central), Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa West) and Umaru Al-Makura (Nasarawa South).
Also on the list are Senators Danladi Sankara (Jigawa NorthWest), Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia (Jigawa North East), Kashim Shettima (Borno Central), Sabo Mohammed (Jigawa South-West), Godiya Akwashuki (Nasarawa North), Ovie Omo-Agege (Delta Central), Buhari Abdulfatai (Oyo North), Adedayo Adeyeye (Ekiti South), Bello Mandiya (Katsina South), Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North), Bala Ibn Na’Allah (Kebbi South), Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf (Taraba Central), Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central), David Umaru (Niger East, Isah Jibrin (Kogi East), Suleiman Abdu Kwari (Kaduna North), Ashiru Yisa (Kwara South), Ibrahim Geidam (Yobe East), Ahmad Babba Kaita (Katsina North) and Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto North).
Others are Senators Lawal Yahaya (Bauchi South), A.M. Bulkachuwa (Bauchi North), Ashiru Ahmed (Adamawa Central), Michael Bamidele (Ekiti Central), Olalekan Mustapha (Ogun East), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun Central), Abubakar Kyari (Borno North), Teslim Folarin (Oyo Central), Uba Sani (Kaduna Central), Abubakar Shehu (Sokoto South), Tolu Odebiyi (Ogun West), Orji Uzor-Kalu (Abia North), Kabir Barkiya (Katsina Central), Bima Muhammad Enagi (Niger South), Ibrahim Shekarau (Kano Central), Ibrahim Oloriegbe (Lagos East), Osinowo Adebayo (Lagos East), Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central), Saidu Alkali (Gombe North), Ahmad Lawan (Yobe North).
But Ndume shrugged off the list as shadow-boxing and empty public grandstanding, saying “I do my numbering not by publishing names.” Ndume said his ambition would translate into votes on Tuesday when his colleagues would elect him, saying he had done his numbering too but will not publish the names because the optics point to desperation. Reacting to Lawan’s alleged endorsement, Ndume told reporters yesterday evening that he was not looking for endorsement but votes of his colleagues.
“I do my numbering too but not by publishing my colleagues’ names. I am not looking for endorsement but looking for votes on Election Day. You know clearly that there is the difference between endorsement and election. You would recall too that in 2015 that story of endorsement was canvassed. He has the endorsement but what happened on the floor of the Senate was different. This kind of thing has been there all along. We have seen endorsements against several elections.
“I believe that my colleagues shall vote according to their conscience and they shall vote for a candidate that is more suitable for the position of the Senate President. “I am not bothered about endorsement rather, I am more worried about the election. I shall go into the election on Tuesday and it shall have two sides which is either one loses or wins,” Ndume further said.
