The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, has stated that no political party can decide who becomes Senate President.
This comes as the race for the incoming 10th National Assembly‘s leadership positions heats up, with many alliances being formed across party lines.
The Senate President, on the other hand, has insisted that no matter what, the opposition cannot decide key positions in the National Assembly.
Lawan stated this to State House Correspondents on the sidelines of the Sallah homage to President Muhammadu Buhari by FCT residents at the Presidential Villa Abuja.
According to him, the opposition has no choice but to collaborate with the All Progressives Congress (APC), which holds the majority in the National Assembly.
Lawan said;
I don’t think opposition parties are planning to usurp because it is presumptuous that the APC will not be a united party. APC is a united party and the opposition party will simply work with the APC majority for us to have stability, because there is no way an opposition will decide who should be the senate president, who should be the speaker. It is our party and other leaders that will decide which zone or whoever, and the rest of us in the party will key in and of course the opposition would have no option but to support.
I don’t see anything wrong in the opposition talking to us, or we’re talking to the opposition to ensure that we’re on the same page, because we need the opposition to ensure that we get most of our constitutional amendments, when the time is right, passed — because we can’t have the 73 in the Senate. You need 73 senators at least for you to have any constitutional amendment. So, you would need the opposition. That’s why it is very, very critical. It is very essential that you work with the opposition right from the beginning. Don’t ever think the opposition should be pushed away.
I don’t believe in that, I only believe in the very bipartisan chamber because it is more productive. It is more stable, it’s calm, and it gives you the kind of outcome that you will never get with a very rancourous chamber. And I’ve seen it, we have done it.
Speaking about the Sallah celebration, the Senate President noted that;
It was a very historic, memorable Eid el-Fitr celebration visit to our outgoing president. And the takeaway is this president has served Nigeria so far, for over seven and a half years. And he did tremendously well. The Buhari administration is closing on a very strong note, we have succeeded in reducing and minimizing the insecurity that we met in 2015.
This administration has provided so much infrastructure across the country like no other administration did before. This administration, this President, particularly, assented to legislation more than any previous president, especially in the last four years. And we are so proud of this administration, that we have been able to achieve so much, and therefore, it is a thing of joy for all of us to come and celebrate with Mr. President, the Eid el-Fitr today, Friday.
And I want to also add here that the multitude of people from the FCT, those who actually came to see the president and congratulate him, showed the kind of unity that we have in the FCT; people from all walks of life. And of course, the rest of us who are supportive of what the president was supposed to do here came to show our gratitude in another way that we are really happy with the way we have been able to be part and parcel of this administration, the very positive manner is really the ninth National Assembly.
We have done so much to support that administration and the government, and we are so proud of our achievement as an administration. That is what the legislature and the executive arm of government [achieved] and this President will go home by the grace of God after the 29th of May, 2023 a very satisfied person. But of course, there are things that we have not been able to do well. The new administration of Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu will come in and its going to be a continuity with those areas that we’ve gotten well, and those areas that we have not been able to get well, we’ll rework them. We’ll retool them; we’ll kindle them and ensure that we continue with the progressive APC administration.
It is one administration; it’s one government, so to speak, and we’re proud to be part of everything that has happened in the last seven and a half years.