From its earlier position of zoning the Senate presidency to the North-central, APC’s current decision to throw the position open to all might cause more problems for the party.

President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, recently declared that he will not interfere in the process of electing leaders for the National Assembly. Buhari, after coming under pressure to intervene in the selection process, said he is ready to work with anybody that emerges as Senate president or speaker of the House of Representatives.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has moved from its current position as a minority party in both the Senate and the House of Representatives to become the majority party in the next National Assembly and

Already, members of the party, especially those referred to as 'ranking' due to the number of times they have made it to the National Assembly, have started jostling for the positions.

Those in contention for the Senate presidency include former governor of kwara State, Bukola Saraki, former Benue State governor, George Akume, Senator Ahmad Lawan from Yobe State and Senator Ali Ndume from Borno State.

Those seeking to become speaker include Yakubo Dogara from Bauchi State, Abdulmumin Jibrin from Kano and Femi Gbajabiamila from Lagos State. Since the removal of Salisu Buhari from the position of speaker in 1999 and his replacement with Ghali Umar Na'Abba, the executive arm of government has taken keen interest in those who lead the National Assembly, making the ruling party and the lawmakers to always consult the Presidency before the emergence of new leaders.

The shift in approach by Buhari who said he would allow the lawmakers to choose their leaders, therefore, came as a surprise as many had started lobbying leaders of the APC as well as those close to the president-elect for his blessing to occupy the positions.

Many people hail the decision of the president-elect to remain neutral in the matter, pointing out that it was the inability of President Goodluck Jonathan to do so that led to the emergence of Aminu Tambuwal as speaker, against the PDPs wish.

However, there is the fear that whoever emerges without the backing of either the party or the president, like Tambuwal, is likely to attribute his emergence to the forces that made him which, in the case of Tambuwal, happened to be the opposition party. Of course, that explains his close collaboration with the opposition elements, a situation that contributed to the problems the Jonathan-led government had with the legislators. Analysts observe that ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo, frequently had altercations with the lawmakers because of his penchant for influencing leadership change in Senate.

Thus, many now advise the president-elect to maintain his neutrality on the issue and, in the process, show respect for the principle of separation of powers and deepen the country's democracy. But, on the other hand, many argue that the party, on which platform the legislators got elected into the National Assembly, must guide the process to make it easier for the lawmakers to decide their leaders.

This is because after several weeks of intense campaign and lobbying, it has become obvious that what would have been done neatly and without friction is getting murkier by the day. The APC was expected to zone the position so as to influence the process through the automatic weeding that comes with such exercise, but more than eight weeks after the election of the present crop of legislators, the party is yet to take any definite stand on the issue.

Governor of Kano State, Rabi'u Musa Kwankwaso, has advised the APC to settle the issue of zoning of National Assembly positions as quickly as it can to avoid a repeat of what transpired in 2011 when aspirants were allowed to go far in their campaign before the issue of zoning was settled.

He said if that scenario is allowed to repeat itself, with many of the aspirants aware of their strength, the development might cause disaffection within the party.

A source in the APC said it is the view of stakeholders that the party should come out with a definite position on the matter to avoid rancour. However, the former national chairman of the APC, Bisi Akande, said recently that the party will not zone the positions in the National Assembly, implying that the party is comfortable with throwing the position open for contest by lawmakers from all the zones.

But the current stance of the party has been criticised as hypocritical and one that will not augur well for the wellbeing of the party because the same APC did otherwise in previous elections.

An analyst, Dotun Kayode, points out that the APC which says it is now frowning at the principle of zoning of positions in the National Assembly, zoned positions in the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party and that of the vice president to the South-west. The party had zoned the national chairmanship of the party to the South-south as well as other positions to other zones during its convention.

Daily Trust correspondent observed that during the party's governorship primaries, the APC also ensured that the principle of rotation was upheld in states like Plateau, Lagos, Katsina, Bauchi, Rivers and others.

But more than that, many are of the view that the North-central zone should be considered for the Senate-presidency since the NWC has agreed, in principle, for the position to go to the zone.

Aspirants for the Senate presidency in the North-central are Saraki and Akume. But a group of senators led by Senator Barnabas Gemade has announced that Akume has agreed to step down from the race and accepts the position of deputy Senate president while he also supports Lawan's bid for the Senate president's position. With this development, Saraki remains the sole candidate from the zone.

Another group, The Like Mind Senators, said to be made up of 35 out of the 59 senators of APC, said it supports Saraki. With the stepping down of Akume, the race is now essentially between Saraki, from the North-central zone, and Lawan, from the North-east zone . The senators are, therefore, divided into two groups, the "Like Mind Senators" and "Senate Unity Forum."

Senator-elect Dino Melaye, who addressed the press on behalf of the ‘Like Mind Senators’ displayed to the media a document he said contained the signatures of 35 senators supporting Saraki.

Gemade, on the other hand, speaking on behalf of the Unity Forum, said that the Forum, comprising senators-elect from various states and zones of Nigeria, "met, held extensive discussions and resolved to support Senator Ahmad Lawan as Senate president and Senator George Akume as deputy Senate president of the 8th Senate."

The Forum later clarified that it has additional senators from four geo-political zones of South-west, North-east, North-central and North-west that support the Lawan/ Akume ticket.

With the two major aspirants for the office of the Senate president, namely, Saraki, and Lawan, the APC is expected to step in and guide the party on which zone should have the ticket as throwing the contest open might lead to the kind of scenario Kwankwaso advised the party to avoid. It is needless to state that both contenders have gone far in their campaigns. Saraki, in particular, has maintain a good level of consistency in his attempt to occupy the position of Senate president and he is remembered for the sacrifice he made before the APC presidential primary election when he stepped down for Buhari. Meanwhile, Lawan is making a case that the North-east should be compensated due to the devastation of the zone by the insurgents activities.