Minority leader: PDP set to dump Tambuwal for Plateau senator

Strong indications emerged on Friday that the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party may pitch its tent with a senator from Plateau State as the minority leader of the red chamber.

This came as more opposition senators oppose the ambition of a former governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, to lead them in the Senate.

In the current Senate, Senator Istifanus Gyang is the only PDP senator from Plateau State, as the two other senators from the state are in the APC.

Investigations by one of our correspondents indicated that the opposition senators felt it was wrong to cede the position to the North-West since the zone already had two principal offices in the National Assembly; deputy Senate president and Speaker, House of Representatives.

The Speaker, Tajudeen Abass, is from Kaduna State while the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, is from Kano State.

A PDP senator who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “North-West is not the only zone in Nigeria. There are six geopolitical zones in the country and we cannot concentrate in the North-West alone.

“President Muhammadu Buhari is from the same zone and he had just finished two terms in office. Tambuwal is a former Speaker of the House of Representatives. He was a governor for eight years. He was one of those who also worked against the PDP in 2015 and made us (the PDP) an opposition political party. He should go and queue and work for the party in the next elections.

“Don’t forget he even made us lose the Sokoto governorship to the All Progressives Congress in his state. So, he has more work to do in his state than at the federal level.”

Meanwhile, as senators prepare for their resumption on July 4, the battle for the principal offices has continued to gain traction with more lawmakers indicating interest in the principal offices.

For the governing party, some of the lawmakers vying for the position of the Senate leader are Senators Opeyemi Bamidele (Ekiti Central) and Fatai Buhari (Oyo North). It was also learnt that Senator Ali Ndume (Borno South) has joined the race.

According to a reliable source familiar with the matter, Ndume had intensified his efforts to get the position given that he was the director-general of the Godswill Akpabio senate presidency campaign.

As provided for by the relevant laws and rules of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, aside from the two presiding officer positions, eight principal positions are also to be filled by lawmakers on the platforms of both the governing and minority political parties.

The other principal officers from the governing party are the Senate Leader, Deputy Senate Leader, Chief Whip and Deputy Whip, while the opposition parties would produce the Minority Leader, Minority Whip, Deputy Minority Leader and Deputy Minority Whip.

When plenary resumes from its recess, the Senate President, Akpabio, is expected to read letters from concerned political parties on their nominations for the positions. Punch