Ndume and Goje agree to look at the prospect of joining forces in senate presidency race

BORNO South's Senator Ali Ndume has boosted his chances of becoming the next Nigerian senate leader after one of his main rivals Senator Danjuma Goje of Gombe State has agreed to examine the prospect of working with him and presenting a joint team.

Since Nigeria's National Assembly elections were held in February, jostling has begun for the leadership positions such as the senate president, deputy senate president, speaker of the House of Representatives and deputy speaker. Being the number three position in the country behind the president and vice president, the position of senate president has attracted the most attention, with senator Ndume and Senator Ahmad Lawan of Yobe North Senatorial District being the two main contenders.

With the APC having zoned the position to the northeast geo-political zone, Senator Lawan emerged as the frontrunner, given that he is close to President Buhari and the party's national leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. However, after the APC chairman Adams Oshiomhole announced that the party leadership is backing Senator Lawan, there has been opposition to what is seen as an imposition and interference in the affairs of the legislature.

Senator Lawan is seen as too close to the president and as such incapable of asserting the independence of the National Assembly. This has opened the door for the likes of Senator Ndume and Senator Goje and matters got more complicated with senators from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said they want to have a say in who the National Assembly leaders are.

Yesterday, Senator Lawan met with Governors Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State, Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, Ibrahim Geidam of Yobe State and Mohammed Bindow of Adamawa State in a bid to shore up his dwindling popularity. However, his position is undermined by the fact that Senators Goje and Ndume, have commenced discussions on the possibility of working together.

In a further twist, APC senators from the southeast geo-political zone have asked Mr Oshiomhole to zone the position of deputy senate president to them. If senator Ndume agrees to this, the southeast caucus might decide to back him.

Senator Jude Chikadibia, the spokesman for the southeast senators said: “We make bold to demand that the engine of the democratic vehicle of Next Level must not be powered by the fuel of exclusion. Ndigbo, as critical partners in the Nigerian project should be given their rightful place on the discussion making table of this country.

“We solicit that the ninth National Assembly leadership zoning formula purportedly midwived by the APC national leadership must be revisited in the interest of equity and justice. We urge our most revered leader and president and indeed other national leaders prevail on the APC national leadership to resolve the issue of leadership vacuum as earlier highlighted and also strengthen the party in the southeast.”

They decried the poor outing of the APC in the just concluded elections in the southeast, which they attributed to the betrayal by some leaders of the party from the zone. One problem they will face, however, is that the APC does not have any ranking senators from the southeast.