By Chidiebere Onyemaizu
Less than 24 hours to the inauguration of the ninth National Assembly, several Senate and People’s Democratic party, PDP sources have informed this magazine that the two APC contenders for the Senate Presidency- Senators Ali Ndume and Ahmed Lawan have both acceded to the Party’s (PDP) condition for support:The return of Senator Ike Ekweremadu as Deputy Senate President.
One of the sources described Senator Lawan’s boast of having been endorsed by 62 Senators as hogwash.
“He is just engaging in a mind game.Senator Lawan is just humouring himself. With PDP’s 52 Senators largely voting as a bloc and about 25 APC Senators not favourably disposed to his aspiration, where did he get the 62 Senators?”,he queried.
Another source described him as being “imaginative”
“Distinguished Senator Lawan is imaginative, he is simply creating imaginations.The 60 something Senators he talked about only exist in his imagination”, he said.
Having secured the Deputy Senate Presidency, the opposition party, The Source has learnt, is now torn between the choice of Ndume and Lawan. Pro-Ndume PDP senators are canvassing support for him on the ground that he was once a member of the party.
They also say that the Senate, under Ndume, will not be a rubber stamp as demonstrated by his defiance of his party and presidency’s pressure to stand down from the race.
Pro-Lawan PDP Senators on the other hand, argue that the Yobe born Senator has a rich legislative experience spanning 20 years, and will perform creditably well as Senate President.
In the PDP itself, there is a muted struggle between Senator James Manager(Delta) and Enyinnaya Abaribe(Abia) for the position of Minority Senate Leader. But the majority opinion in the party is that the South east cannot have the Deputy Senate President and also Senate Minority Leader positions at the same time.
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