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Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, have reportedly rejected the nominees of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for top leadership positions in the two chambers of the National Assembly.
It was gathered that on Tuesday, the party wrote the two leaders directing them to adopt candidates who lost at the elections as principal officers.
In the letter, the party picked Senator Lawan as Senate Leader; Sola Adeyeye as Chief Whip; George Akume as Deputy Senate Leader; and Abu Ibrahim as Deputy Whip.
For the House Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila is the party’s choice to emerge House Leader, while Mohammed Monguno would serve as Chief Whip; Alhassan Doguro Deputy Speaker; and Pally Iriase as Deputy Whip.
According to Premium Times, Messrs Saraki and Dogara were yet to accept the party’s terms as at 5 a.m. on Wednesday.
“The issue of the principal officers is a party affair,” a senior party leader was quoted as saying.
“Traditionally; in the legislative practice, it is the party that forwards names of its members who should fill the positions to the Senate President or Speaker as the case maybe. And that is what APC is insisting on.”
“What Dogara is saying is that if the party takes the House Leader, a member from his group should be the Chief Whip and so on. But Saraki is not ready to comply with the party’s directives at all.
“You know why Saraki is doing like that and making the party to be at his mercy? He is confident the party cannot mobilise the two-thirds majority to remove him,” the party official said.