APC Senators in Physical Fight over Senate Leadership Posts

This is what you get when people keep saying that the party should not mediate in the leadership tussle in both the Senate and the House of Reps. There will be a lot of fight because they are all equal and should be guided by APC leadership, so no one would feel cheated. But that's not happening.

Efforts made by the 59 senators of the APC in the Senate to resolve the lingering crisis over the emergence of Senator Bukola Saraki as President of the 8th Senate, ended in fiasco as some of the senators engaged each other in physical fight.

Disagreement between the two camps which led to verbal outbursts and exchange of blows between senators was sparked off when the senators belonging to the Like Minds and Unity Forum groups failed to reach middle ground on the procedure for the emergence of a candidate for the various leadership positions.

While the Saraki-led Like Minds Senators at the meeting insisted that the candidates for the various positions be zoned and the candidates produced at the caucus level, the Ahmad Lawan group under the aegis of Unity Forum disagreed.

The Like Minds group had already penciled down Senators Ali Ndume ( APC Borno South) for the position of Senate Leader, Sani Yerima ( APC Zamfara West) for Deputy Leaders position, Shola Adeyeye (Osun Central) as Chief Whip and Francis Alimikhena (Edo North) as Deputy Chief Whip.
The Unity Forum senators, on the contrary, insisted that all vacant positions be filled by the national leadership of the party.

But the Like Minds senators, however, came up with a zoning formula that gave the position of Majority Leader to the North East; Deputy Majority Leader, North West; Chief Whip, South West; and Deputy Whip, South South, respectively.

According to one of the lawmakers who attended the APC Senators meeting, Suleiman Hunkuyi the issue was caused by attempts by the Saraki-led group to impose its candidates on the party.

The drama started when midway into the meeting which was held behind closed door, an angry Senator Hunkuyi stormed out of the venue and threw the doors open, asking newsmen around to witness the drama.

With the atmosphere already charged, trouble started when Senator Tayo Alsoadura (APC Ondo Central), a member of the Like Minds senators differed over the choice of Senator Sola Adeyeye (APC Osun Central) as Chief Whip.

The lawmaker insisted that Senator Robert Borroffice (APC, Ondo North) was a better candidate to Adeyeye, given his experience as a ranking senator.

However one of the Unity Forum senators, Kabiru Marafa (APC, Zamfara Central), took offence with Senator Alsoadura’s observation and launched an unexpected attack on the latter who staggered backwards and almost fell to the ground. Senators at this point, rushed to the rescue of Alasoadura by forming a wall to prevent him from hitting the ground.

Speaker earlier, Senate President Saraki had said, “Distinguished colleagues, I have convened this meeting for obvious reason, among other things, the need to come together, unite with each other and embrace one another on the platform of love, brotherliness, with the believe that we would all do the needful and put our differences behind us and forge ahead.

“As we go into this meeting, let us discuss, interact and bear our minds out with the belief that there are solutions to all issues. Every thought and ideas shall be welcomed and every opinion and suggestion will be considered because this is a family affair”.

In his reaction, Senator Abu Ibrahim stated that zoning of the principal officers is an exclusive preserve of the party and the party must wield its stick on any lawmakers who violates the authority of the party.

He said, “The party has come out with its own position and some people are trying to rush, to sabotage the party’s position [again]. We will see whether the senate president will heed the party’s directive."


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