Another crisis brews in APC as Saraki loyalists oppose Tinubu’s candidates for principal offices

The supremacy struggle between Senators loyal to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and those loyal to Senator Bola Tinubu is still very much on as both groups have vowed to have their way in deciding who fills the positions of Senate leader, Deputy Senate leader, Chief Whip and Deputy Chief Whip.

Whereas, Senator Bola Tinubu and The Senators Unity Forum (Senators loyal to him) want the National Executive of the All Progressive Congress (APC) to choose who should fill the positions, the Senate President and his loyalists (Senators of like minds) want the decision of who occupies the positions to be left to the zonal causes of the Party in the Senate.

According to ionigeria.com, Tinubu and his group are however said to be adamant because they have perfected a plan of imposing Senators Ahmad Lawan and George Akume as the Senate leader and deputy, respectively. He has also penciled down Professor Olusola Adeyeye (Osun) as the Senate Chief Whip and Senator Abu Ibrahim from Katsina State as his deputy.

It should be recalled that in the battling for Senate Presidency, Tinubu wanted Senators Lawan and Akume as Senate President and deputy Senate President respectively.

Speaking with journalists in Abuja on Saturday, Senators Ahmed Sani-Yerima and Danjuma Goje, who belong to the Saraki group condemned the plan by Tinubu using the Party leadership to fill the four positions.

They contended that they will resist efforts by people outside the Senate to impose principal officers on the Senator and insisted that the election of the four principal officers was the exclusive right of the zonal caucuses in the Senate.

According to Senator Sani-Yerima, “As far as I’m concerned, the party cannot impose leadership on us. It is unconstitutional and against the rules of the Senate.


“The Senate Majority Leader; Deputy Majority Leader; Senate Chief Whip; Deputy Chief Whip were elected by their zonal caucuses in the Seventh Senate and the case of the Eighth Senate cannot be different.


“The best thing the party can do, given the circumstances, is to give us directives. Any attempt to impose will be resisted and this will further divide the party.”


“We should follow due process. Allowing the party to impose a leadership on the Senate President is to make him to fail because he cannot be forced to work with his rivals.


“We are committed to giving President Buhari protection in the Senate. What we are doing is definitely not against the President.”


Also contributing, Goje said, “By trying to impose another set of leaders on the National Assembly is to cause further crisis in the party. It will complicate matters and generate further crisis in the National Assembly.”