Senate Leader, Senator Ahmed Lawan, has continued his engagement with all stakeholders, including his colleagues in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over his bid to become the Senate president of the 9th National Assembly. This is coming as a former Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, has said that he has the blessing of President Muhammadu Buhari to run for Senate president when the 9th National Assembly is inaugurated in June. Also, the North East Consultative Forum (NECF) and five other groups have endorsed the Chairman of Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Danjuma Goje, as a candidate for the coveted office. It was gathered that the latest of Lawan’s consultations with his colleagues was his recent engagement with members of the PDP Senate caucus over his ambition. A ranking PDP Senator said yesterday that Lawan has intimated the caucus about his intention to vie for the office of the Senate president when the 9th Senate is inaugurated in June. The Senator further confirmed that Lawan also had one-on-one interaction with the lawmakers. “The Senate Leader has actually spoken with some of us in PDP about his ambition to lead the 9th Senate and we listened to him as colleagues. I can confirm to you that he has had very robust discussions with the PDP caucus. He also keeps reminding us at every given opportunity about his ambition and he continues to talk to both PDP and APC colleagues too,” the Senator explained. Lawan had in the last few weeks stepped up his consultations with different interest groups and Senators-elect over his ambition. For two weeks, he engaged the 9th National Assembly Senators-elect who were in Abuja for the orientation programme organised by National Assembly for the legislators-elect ahead of their inauguration in June. Lawan was said to have used the forum to interact with the Senators-elect across party lines on why he is the best candidate for the position. He also visited some states like Kano, Niger and Borno where he met with some Senators-elect and solicited their support in his bid to become the nation’s number three citizen. Despite the endorsement of Lawan as the anointed candidate of the ruling party, a former Senate Leader, Ndume, yesterday insisted that he also has the blessing of President Muhammadu Buhari to run for office of the Senate president. Ndume who is Chairman of the Senate Committee on Establishments, in a statement personally signed by him, said President Buhari was the first person he told about his ambition long before his re-election during the February 23 parliamentary poll. “I believe that Mr. President has nothing against my aspiration for the office of the Senate President because I sought his permission long before the general election and he gave me the go-ahead. I have not heard anything otherwise from him. “I believe he will not go against my aspiration, because as he said he belongs to everybody and belongs to nobody. And he sticks to that. I am sure that the least he can do is to allow the constitution, which he strongly believes in, and the rule of law to prevail in the emergence of the senate leadership. So, I want to use this opportunity to clear the air as to those that are trying to cause disaffection.” According to him, the insinuation that he was working against the Presidency’s interest was incorrect, adding that “I think it is a spin from well-known quarters”. Ndume assured the APC leadership of his commitment to party ideals and doing what is right, in line with party’s constitution and the Constitution of Nigeria. “What I am doing now is to strengthen democracy – to, in fact, improve on or deepen democracy and to stand by what APC believes in. Mr. President stood for election. It was open. “During his second term, the President subjected himself to the process of democracy that led to his emergence. During the gubernatorial elections he came out clearly to say people should be allowed to elect persons of their choice even. .
DammyLink
Comments are closed.