By Dansu Peter
Both Kalu and Akpabio have been declared winners in their respective senatorial areas.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has already declared 98 out of 109 seats have been declared in the Senate. 11 seats have been billed for run-off elections this online medium understands.
With the results of the national assembly election so far declared by INEC, there is no doubt that the ruling All Progressives Congress is still in firm control of the national assembly having won the majority of the seats across the two chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives.
According to the Vanguard Newspaper, some aspirants have already started compiling names of the members-elect for strategic meetings and campaigns.
Of more importance was the name of the returnees in the current 9th assembly and the reelected former lawmakers who are already familiar with the politics of the House.
It was further gathered that, barring any last-minute eventuality, APC will release the zoning arrangements for the offices, especially that of the Senate President and the Speaker of the House before the end of this week.
Some analysts feel it naturally and logically that the Southwest having produced Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Senator Kashim Shetima from the North East who are both of the Islamic faith as President-Elect and Vice President-elect, the national assembly offices should be shared amongst the remaining geopolitical zones to entrench unity and peace of the country. The analyst posited that a southeasterner, who must be a Christian faith should emerge as the President of the Senate. A permutation that favors Senator Orji Uzor Kalu.
Vanguard Newspaper confirmed the report of this medium when it reported that the chief whip of the 9th Senate, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu and the former minority leader of the Senate in the 8th Assembly, Senator Goodwill Akpabio being considered by the APC for Senate President.
Also the paper reported that Hon. Aliyu Betara representing Biu Kwaya federal constituency of Borno, currently serving as the Chairman, of the House Committee on Appropriations is also being positioned for the office of the speaker.
Justifying the predilection shown to Kalu who hails from the southeast, the report said that it was in the fulfilment of Tinubu’s campaign promise to balance power and give all Nigerians a sense of belonging.
Another factor understandably playing out well for Kalu is the perception in some quarters that the southeast has not been treated well in terms of high-profile political appointments by the APC government since the party came to power in 2015.
For the speakership, the national assembly source also said that the North West was being weighed by the party.
According to him, the option of the northwest can only prevail if the choice of Betara who belongs to the same northeast as the vice president-elect, Shetima faces stiff opposition.
He added that the current legal travails of the outgoing leader of the 9th House, Hon. Ado Doguwa over an alleged “murder” preferred against him by the police authorities in the aftermath of the Presidential and National Assembly elections in Kano State is the currency that is fueling the choice of Betara.
Some believe it may be a dent in the party and the House should the case be established against Doguwa, stressing it is a blessing in disguise for Betara.
“Senator Orji Kalu from the southeast stands a better chance to emerge as Senate President although Akpabio’s name has also dropped for the same office. Both are close to the President-Elect and understand his politics. But Kalu is seriously being considered. The party is also considering the North East and the North West for the speakership”, the source said.
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