Tinubu: Kalu Eyes Senate Presidency

Following the declaration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as the winner of the February 25 Presidential Election, focus has shifted to how the ruling party will share powers among contending interests in the country.

The former Lagos State Governor was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, after beating close runners-up Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP.

Baring any Court orders, Tinubu will be Commander-in-Chief after  President Muhammadu Buhari whose tenure will end. Kashim Shetima will be the Vice President.

The next focus will now be on who the party chooses as the Senate President. As expected, not a few Senators from the APC, including Orji Uzor Kalu, the Magazine learned, are lobbying the powers-that-be in the party to occupy the position.

Instructively, Femi Gbajabiamila, the current Speaker of the House of Representatives, it has been learned, is favoured to return to his position , by those close to Tinubu and members of the party largely from the South West, and the North who cited his performance and popularity among Nigerians. This, however is not possible as the Speaker of the House and the President cannot come from same State, same Zone.

According to the results announced by INEC last week, Kalu, a returning senator won the seat for Abia North, and is expected to be among the 109 senators in the 10th Assembly.

Apart from occupying the position of Senate Chief Whip in the Senate, Kalu, according to checks is the highest ranking senator from the south east, which sources in the party said is favoured to produce the Senate President, according to the power sharing arrangement that has already been drawn by the ruling party.

The former Governor of Abia State, according to information gathered, is highly being favoured to succeed incumbent Ahmad Lawan, who was declared the rightful candidate of Yobe South seantorial district by the Supreme Court barely a week before the February 25 presidential and National Assembly election. He went ahead to win the election for the 6th time  and not being favoured to return to his position as Senate President because the Vice President-elect is, like him, from the North-east Zone.

The party is thinking towards the South-east for two reasons: to get the support of the people of that region who have been crying over marginalisation, and to restore security by building trusts among the Igbo that they are part of Nigeria.”

According to another close source to the President-elect, who said his name should not be mentioned because he is not authorised to speak for the party, Tinubu “wants to build a broad based government” that carries everybody in the country along.

Another source also confided in the magazine that Kalu “came into the mix because of the unflinching support he gave Tinubu following his emergence as APC Presidential candidate, citing for instance that the former Abia helmsman even “took Tinubu to his mother as a way of building trust that his family is solidly behind his presidential ambition.”

Analysts insist that it will not be impossible for Kalu to have a smooth sail in his quest to become the Senate President, except the power brokers decide to abandon their support for him in a last minute change of mind.

For instance , they cited precedence which favours Kalu. Apart from this, they insist that as a ranking Senator, the former Governor has a good chance to clinch the position of the third most powerful government official in the counnty.

Citing precedence, those that favour Kalu said the position was occupied by Evan Ewerem and Adolphus Wabara, both from the South east during the tenure of President Olusegun Obasanjo. They expect the power sharing arrangement in the APC to follow the same trajectory when Tinubu, from the South West becomes President.

Those in the school of thought also opined that the ruling party will try to avoid a repeat of what happened in the Eight Senate when crisis in the party lead to the emergence of Bukola Saraki as Senate President despite opposition from his Party.

“The party is trying to ensure that its house is put in order before the inauguration of the new National Assembly to avoid the pitfalls of the past, a source in the party who spoke on Monday said, adding that “the Chief Whip as a ranking Senator from the South-east, I think, should be given the first choice of refusal.”

In his congratulatory message to Tinubu last week, Kalu said Tinubu has the mandate of a wide spectrum of Nigerians to rule.

He said, “I congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari, President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the entire All Progressives Congress (APC) family and Nigerians in general on the outcome of the presidential election.

“Tinubu’s victory in the poll is a testimony to his general acceptability across board.

“The President- elect no doubt will take Nigeria to greater heights in view of his intellectual capacity and political sagacity.

“I am optimistic that the President-elect will run an all inclusive and participatory government for the sake of national cohesion.

“Nigerians will not be disappointed in Tinubu’s leadership”.

The former Abia Governor was among the candidates that initially declared interest in the Presidency but later made a U-turn to support Lawan who later lost the APC presidential ticket to Tinubu.

Not a few insist that Nigerians should expect a serious clash among APC Senators who want to become Senate President by the time the National Assembly is inaugurated in June.

Meanwhile,  the Senate Chief Whip  has yet to openly declare his interest in the position, even though those  close to him informed the magazine that he has his eyes on the top job.