All appears not to be settled in the camp of Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) sitting Senators and Senators-elect.
Feelers indicate as All Progressives Congress (APC) Senators are plotting for position of the Senate President, PDP Senators have launched intense scheming for the slot of Senate minority leader.
It is gathered the intrigue and scheming for leadership positions in the Senate clearly manifested during the issuance of certificate of returns to Senator and members of the House of Representatives on Thursday.
The PDP is expected to produce the minority leader in the ninth Senate with its 42 senators. APC boasts of 65 and YPP has one.
A competent source in the National Assembly told our reporter on Monday the calculation is the South East geo-political zone with its 13 senators, still counting, would produce the Senate minority leader.
He noted the South South geo-political zone is already out of the race for Senate minority leader because the zone occupies the exalted position of PDP Chairman in the person of Prince Uche Secondus.
Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu and South East caucus leader in the upper chamber, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, are said to be highly favoured to clinch the Senate minority leader.
The source, who said he is aware the PDP leadership would soon come out to declare its position, said: “On who gets what in the Senate and House of Representatives” noted that “the position of Senate minority leader is not elective position.”
He said: “Senate minority leader position is a party affair. The PDP leadership will soon declare its stand about who should occupy the position.
“PDP wants to get it right in order not to make the mistake of Senator Godswill Akpabio who abandoned the position to defect to APC in the build up to the general elections.
“It is incumbent on the party to decide. The position is purely a party affair. It is not elective. Especially now that the momentum seems to be on the side of the PDP with expected more states to its fold, it is for the party to sustain the tempo by installing effective opposition leader.
“The Senator Godswill Akpabio scenario must not be allowed to play out again.”
The source also said that the PDP planned to install “a cohesive opposition leader that would articulate the position of the party in the Senate.”
Asked who is likely to get the slot between Ekweremadu and Abaribe, he hesitated and said: “PDP leaders are weighing options but what I can deduct from the body language of some party leaders is that perhaps they would want Ekweremadu to now play a father-figure role in the Senate which former Senate President, Senator David Mark, effectively played in the Eight Senate.
‘It is on record that Ekweremadu, having served as Deputy Senate President for three consecutive times with active support of the PDP and its Senators, nobody challenged him, it is widely expected that he should now play a father-figure role in the Senate. Senator David Mark, a former Senate President, did it to the admiration of party members. Nobody should be desperate about anything.”
He assured that “PDP will put its house in order and come up with a suitable name.”
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