₦airaland Forum

What is your capacity and amount that can be supplied?? Am based in Gombe State

Yusuf54:
The south south,south east and south west must join hands together for 2023 Presidency becos I see Power going back to the North's if the South's fails to start strategising now.Let's Put our differences aside and work as one to collect Power from these Hausa's and Fulani's People. Time to Unite is nowwwwww. Say Yes to either Yoruba or Igbo Presidency and No to Hausa/Fulani Presidency

I guess the writer didn't consider the popn gap btw the north and the south before writing this article, and SW through tinubu sold the other southern states out because of his own selfish interests. The north will continue to rule until we all stop this ethnic disparity, when we all see ourselves as one and not hausa, igbo and yoruba. But before that happens tinubu will be severely dealt with first.

Rilwayne001:
Which one of them is kunle poly

the one in white

All i see in ur write up is envy bt u failed to mention if abs performed during his tenure or not? U ppl failed to realize that a house built by God cannot be broken down, u ppl did ur worst with the kwara south bye election and pdp still got votes with all the security apparatus u had. 2019 is close and we'll see the real winner and loser. All those lai mohd pushing u ppl never contributed anything to kwara since 1999 bt now they can turn ur heads in the name of redemption who's deceiving who

Yes there are ways to curb ED
Firstly reduce ur sugar consumption
Secondly exercise as much as u can for easy flow of blood around ur body
Finally don't stress urself up as stress can also lead to erectile dysfunction

[if u don't know something jst keep shut, ambassador abdulrasaq that was saying rubbish jst because he lost to saraki is the one u are following abi, continnuuu quote author=Y0ruba post=65884003]

Saraki’s paternal grand father was from Abeokuta, he lived in Ivory Coast.

Saraki’s own father grew up under a one time Ambassador of Nigeria to Ivory Coast who was from Ilorin. He was instrumental in Saraki’s father’s participation & eventual growth in Ilorin/Kwara’s politics.

Senate President Saraki’s claim to Ilorin is hinged on the Ambassador’s compound where there is an Quranic school at the moment. The man’s compound & relatives already denied Saraki ever being part of them.

Saraki has no ‘family compound’ Ilorin to reflect his 200 years ago Futa Toro migration in Ilorin. His ancestral tree in Ilorin started with Saraki’s own father, a 20th century personage.

Saraki is an Ilorin man with Egba ancestry, QED.[/quote]

Saraki’s paternal grand father was from Abeokuta, he lived in Ivory Coast.

Saraki’s own father grew up under a one time Ambassador of Nigeria to Ivory Coast who was from Ilorin. He was instrumental in Saraki’s father’s participation & eventual growth in Ilorin/Kwara’s politics.

Senate President Saraki’s claim to Ilorin is hinged on the Ambassador’s compound where there is an Quranic school at the moment. The man’s compound & relatives already denied Saraki ever being part of them.

Saraki has no ‘family compound’ Ilorin to reflect his 200 years ago Futa Toro migration in Ilorin. His ancestral tree in Ilorin started with Saraki’s own father, a 20th century personage.

Saraki is an Ilorin man with Egba ancestry, QED.[/quote]U are a big liar jst like lai Mohd, why do ppl jst follow hear say, saraki is from a community called Agbaji in Ilorin and for ur information the name of his compound is Agoro compound. There has never been any ambassador from that compound so stop spewing thrash.

yahmohy27:
Yes because ,he determined who get party's ticket in other words he choose people for them

to some extent i agree with u bt there's a saying that u can force a horse to the river bt u can't force it to drink, saraki may have influenced shaaba becoming a senator Bt saraki cannot tell him not to develop his zone. It's jst a matter of shaaba not having good intentions for his ppl

Most peeps here are jst quick to nail saraki for anything as soon as kwara is mentioned, mind u saraki does not represent that area. That place is shaaba lafiagi's domain. Even ppl who can't do with their wives for kwara na saraki cause am

the guy u ppl are talking abt is a FIFA licensed man, he's one of the top guys in Nigerian NFF, he has a football club to himself even before he became a commissioner, he was formerly the chairman of Gombe state sport council so wat else.

He should resign for who to take over ....ahmad lawan abi...... APC house boy. So that he can continue to run errands for pa buhari and bola (as saraki used to call him ).who APC epp?

Maiduguri is d place where they make d best caps in d north n they vary in price, they call those caps zannah so when u tell any1 selln cap dat u want zannah he knows u know a lot abt caps bt they may be quite expensive

IMO saraki is doing d ryt tin by rejecting d party candidates y won't d party allow each zone to pick its leader must they always hav hand in evrytin. And I dnt tink saraki has done any wrong, d party sent a list containing d zoning formula for d remainining post wit their candidate names witout discussing wit senators frm each zone if they are in support or not, saraki jst decided to giv every zone d freehand to pick their leader and not one dat was drafted by bourdillon grp and y must lawan be d candidate frm d NE dnt they hav any better person now d senators frm d NE hav picked someone else. D party also zoned d deputy senate leader to NC d same zone as d SP to d detriment of SS bt saraki corrected dat wrong by givn d SS a post. I also want to bliv buhari is in d know of all dis tins happening

I dnt want to believe dis sahara reporters on this but if it were to be true then I feel saraki should let buhari be since its all man for himself, buhari would soon start to lose his goodwill in the mind of nigerians because we never voted for him to go and be loyal to his party bt to nigerians so y are they taking this too far. Secondly there's ntin like treachery in wat saraki did because it was clear an individual was trying to tke control of d national assembly and if that should happen then there's ntin like change its as gud as calling NASS the Bourdillon Assembly, tinubu and Buhari did d same tin saraki did wit their former parties d AD and ANPP, aminu tambuwals case is still fresh on our mind n dis same ppl supported him against his party so y are they frowning. Lastly saraki should jst forget abt dis old men weneva they need him they'll call him rather than him begging them, he can do witout them bt they cnt do witout him.

The writer has not rlly mentioned wat happened to tinubu, his political calculations n pride. Firstly tinubu shot himself in d leg by backing a northerner against a northerner its jst like 2 brothers frm d same mum fighting n u an outsider trying to back one @ d expense of d other wat do u tink will happen when they settle their differences,they'll turn their aggression on d outsider n dat is wat d north has jst shown tinubu. NE n NC are fighting for d same seat y cnt tinubu face d speakership seat whc was zoned to d SW bt he wanted to show himself beyond d SW n now he's seen d result. Secondly tinubu was too proud to d extent dat he forgot d saying dat a single tree doesn't mke a forest, being d ntnl leader of a party doesn't automatically make all party members ur bois bt pride won't allow him see, he decided to attribute d success of d party to himself alone witout taking into consideration wat others had to sacrifice before d success was attained and so d fulanis decided to show him a drop of water doesn't mke an ocean, in politics u win some n lose some bt tinubu wanted to tke all. Buhari dat stayed away frm supporting any candidate knew wat he was doing because it was clearly an internal struggle within d same fulani fmly n backing one of dem will make him lose his home structure bt a yoruba wanted to show he's capable beyond his home structure and now he has been taught a lesson he won't forget easily

The writer has not rlly mentioned wat happened to tinubu, his political calculations n pride. Firstly tinubu shot himself in d leg by backing a northerner against a northerner its jst like 2 brothers frm d same mum fighting n u an outsider trying to back one @ d expense of d other wat do u tink will happen when they settle their differences,they'll turn their aggression on d outsider n dat is wat d north has jst shown tinubu. NE n NC are fighting for d same seat y cnt tinubu face d speakership seat whc was zoned to d SW bt he wanted to show himself beyond d SW n now he's seen d result. Secondly tinubu was too proud to d extent dat he forgot d saying dat a single tree doesn't mke a forest, being d ntnl leader of a party doesn't automatically make all party members ur bois bt pride won't allow him see, he decided to attribute d success of d party to himself alone witout taking into consideration wat others had to sacrifice before d success was attained and so d fulanis decided to show him a drop of water doesn't mke an ocean, in politics u win some n lose some bt tinubu wanted to tke all. Buhari dat stayed away frm supporting any candidate knew wat he was doing because it was clearly an internal struggle within d same fulani fmly n backing one of dem will make him lose his home structure bt a yoruba wanted to show he's capable beyond his home structure and now he has been taught a lesson he won't forget on tym

11th June, 2015



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How the APC shot itself in the foot

June 11, 2015 : Niran Adedokun

41 Comments





The tragedy that hit the ruling All Progressives Congress on Tuesday was pretty predictable, only that it happened on us much earlier than I expected.

I understand that partisans would consider classifying Tuesday’s happenstance as tragic outrageous, but if such persons tarry and get a bit more reflective, they would recall that the Peoples Democratic Party was deprived of just half of what the APC lost earlier this week when AminuTambuwal emerged as the Speaker of the House of Representatives on June 4, 2011. But that marginal loss was enough to signal the beginning of the end of the party’s long reign. How then are we able to predict what could happen when a ruling party does not have the confidence of leaders of the two chambers of the national assembly from the very outset? I think it is tragic, especially for a party which bore so much promise.

But the APC had it coming.

Hinging his decision not to interfere in the selection of the leaders of the National Assembly on the change mantra on which he was elected, President Muhammadu Buhari had stated in clear terms that he was ready to work with whoever emerges from the two chambers.

But events have shown that Buhari was alone in the contemplation that change should indeed transform from a mere election slogan into an action word starting with the party.

Some stalwarts of the party apparently calling the tunes for members of the National Working Committee insisted that two people, namely Senator Ahmed Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila, must emerge as the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively regardless of the feelings of other party members who were interested in the offices.

Mock elections that they called went on in spite of the boycott of Senator Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara and their supporters with the desired candidates of the powers that be declared elected.

From here, a couple of discomforting things came up about the APC. The first is that a party which came to Nigerians with promises for change betrayed the people by going about the selection of candidates for national offices with such a draconian flavour.

While it is okay that a party may want to resolve the multiplicity of aspirations for offices among its members, it is counterproductive for party leaders to maintain that only people of their choice would make it to the offices, in spite of the interests of other eminently qualified people.

In the aftermath of the emergence of Saraki and Dogara as Senate President and Speaker House of Representatives respectively, I have heard murmurings of over ambition from shocking quarters including the spokesperson for the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

But I wonder whether there is really anything so called amongst politicians. It is legitimate for anyone to seek to attain any office that they desire. If the party on whose platform such a person has any contrary idea, it behoves the party to either present a compromise, compelling enough for the aspirant to reconsider or go defeat him in a free and fair contest. If both parties are unable to reach a compromise, it is within the right of such a candidate to pursue his dream. This is more so when Saraki and Dogara only asked for open internal elections instead of the ones they thought were skewed in favour of candidates of some leaders of the party.

In any case, wouldn’t the desire of members of the NWC and their sponsors to decide who occupies these positions also amount to over ambition if we were to employ the same standards?

Another point suggesting that Saraki and Dogara would have good company if the over-ambitious tag should stick is that in spite of the enormous capital that the duo and others brought to the APC when they left the PDP in 2014, the party, by insisting that none of them was good enough to take the numbers three and four positions in the land, bares its disrespect for justice, fairness and equity. This is in spite of the realisation that no politician makes such sacrifices for the love of God. All politicians make moves which would ultimately further their career and these veterans know this but chose to be self-centred.

The second unfortunate fallout of the scramble for power by leaders of the APC is that they left the President bare. Nearly two weeks after the swearing in of President Buhari, key intervening positions like that of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation as well as that of the Chief of Staff to the President have not been filled. The reason for this couldn’t be far from the struggle for relevance among various groups of people that came together to form the APC.

The result of this is that Buhari is left without quality advice. He is left open to a wild fire, without the advantage of deniabilityfor any step or misstep that he might make. This, to my mind, would account for the reason why the President sent the Order of Proclamation to the National Assembly way ahead of the inauguration of the assembly. Were the party leaders more alert to the need to protect the President, such a proclamation would have been withheld until possibly after the President’s scheduled belated meeting with the APC legislators. The President’s letter to the Clerk legitimised the sitting of the senators who elected Saraki.

Tuesday’s event should send a signal to the leaders of the APC that there is no one person with the exclusive blessing of strategic thinking. In actual fact, the master stroke of seeking the adoption of the senators elected on the platform of the PDP shows Saraki and Dogara as strategic political thinkers that the APC should not joke with. In addition to that, it suggests that those who opposed the candidacy of these two winners are actually not as adept as they appeared to be. It is unthinkable that they imagined that their candidates would win the elections without the support of the PDP members such that Saraki had them all behind him, no matter what he had to concede. After all, negotiation is one of the most important skills that a leader should possess, an asset that a political party should pursue.

Typical of the way politics is played in Nigeria however, the APC fired a salvo at Saraki and Dogara calling them all sorts of names on Tuesday. A statement issued by Mohammed rejected the emergence of both gentlemen threatening that the party would sanction them.

Let us hope that the threat will not go beyond the paper on which it was printed and that leaders of the APC would bury the hatchet and not allow their egos to overrun them. Evidently, the party will now want to preach the importance of party supremacy and discipline, but the truth is that enforcing such principles also demands a measure of impartiality from those who have the responsibility of leading the party. Without clean hands, the leadership of the APC cannot demand equity.

The party hierarchy therefore needs to rein in all the burgeoning egos that have been bruised by the Coup de main spearheaded by Saraki. Going ahead with the threat to reject the elections and sanctioning the winners will drag the APC into a needless crisis which will be unhealthy for it and the nation.

What I think the APC should concentrate is how to support President Buhari and the National Assembly in providing meaningful leadership to Nigerians.

The power tussle which will result from those threats will deepen the gulf of distrust in the party, push these gentlemen farther away and set the tone for the failure of an administration on which Nigerians have placed all their hopes. It will also be the seal on the coffin of the APC and the ultimate tragedy, the kind which will make a child’s play of the confusion that visited the PDP after the March 28 elections. Let the APC save itself from this looming disaster

@ OP abeg change direction, dis is an old news and infact dankwambo was at d senate hearing to defend himself n since then he has been exhonerated of any wrong doing. He left d office of AG since 2010 n dis is 2015 abegi

In as much as I dnt wanna bliv dis write-up bt if its true I'll be dissapointed in PMB, reason for my dissapointment is dat PMB is making dat opolo eye man think he's d owner of nigeria by throwing everything his way jst because he supported him for d presidency post. Y must tinubu be d one to pick everytin frm councillor to vice-president. I dnt kia who buhari picks bt let it not be tinubu nominating everytin. Tinubu is not bigger than nigeria n d way PMB is going abt dis tins he'll end up regretting he gav almost everytin to satisfy dat opolo eyed man who wants everytin n everyone to be of his own making, Tinubu will meet his waterloo in Saraki

Let APC keep digging their grave, all i see is greed n total control of d senate presidency by these so called elders, they only want a yes man who is always ready to say yes to wateva they tell him unlike saraki who can call anybody's bluff including tinubu. They are jst too afraid of saraki because he'll not giv in to anybody controlling him abt wat n wat not to do, do we expect to hav a perfect relatnship btw d presidency n d senate? Where there is a perfect relatnship then no basis for argument then we are done for because d presidency has a yes-man at its beck n call

Well I expected dis all along, how can tinubu hope to get d VP,SP n speaker all for himself? Tinubu played into saraki's hand by going for lawan who can't even win d vote of his colleagues frm d NE. In d NE senator danjuma goje is d leader of all d senators frm d zone n he's saraki's man so how will lawan win in d zone, secondly tinubu didn't play his role as a leader of d party all he could hav done was to maintain a neutral stand since its a fight btw d NC n d NE bt he decided to interfere and I bliv its gonna cost d SW zone d speakership post simply because when saraki wins d SP he'll make sure d speaker goes to d NE for their support by advising NW n NC to vote for candidate of d NE. Tinubu has definitely played a wrong card against d right man.saraki is a leader in his own right even PDP would be glad to have him back

After months of public outcry over its lavish annual budget, Nigeria’s National Assembly has finally accepted a N20 billion cut to its budget, the first time it would do so since 2011.

This year, the National Assembly will spend N130 billion, and no longer N150 billion, according to the 2015 Appropriation Act signed this month by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Since 2011, the legislature had maintained a super annual budget package of N150 billion, with details of the spending kept top secret for four years.

Even as Nigeria faced a devastating revenue shortage due to sliding oil price in 2014, the Nigerian government proposed another N150 billion for the lawmakers for the 2015 fiscal year.

But while the lawmakers have now agreed a N20 billion cut following months of criticism, its new N130 billion allocation still outweighs the individual budgets of 19 states in Nigeria, PREMIUM TIMES analysis has shown.

Only 17 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory Administration have budgets that are equal to, or above that of the National Assembly.

The federal legislature consisting of the Senate, the House of Representatives, the National Assembly Service Commission and the Legislative Institute of Nigeria; has just over 2,000 persons.

The National Assembly has 469 members in addition to legislative aides and other support staff which are less than 1, 600 persons.

On the contrary, every state of the Federation have the full complements of the legislature, the executive, the judiciary, a robust civil service, and of course millions of citizens to care for.

Some of the states with smaller budgets include Ebonyi (N80 billion), Yobe (N80.6 billion) Niger (80.8 billion), Ekiti (N80.9 billion), Gombe (N86. 8 billion), Zamfara (N92.8 billion), and Enugu (N96.7 billion).
Others are Taraba, Benue, Jigawa and Adamawa. (See full list below).

Currently, the national lawmakers have been found to be paying themselves salaries and allowances outside the recommendations of the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC.

A former RMAFC’s Chairman, Hamman Tukur, had publicly accused the legislators of paying themselves illegal salaries and allowances.

In a year, the senators pocket over N19.6 billion while members of the House of Representatives earn N38.8 billion in allowances apart from other official perks.

Cash Crunch

At the beginning of the current oil price fall, the government embarked on austerity measures including cutting the cost of governance and the reduction in the national capital budget to its lowest in a decade.

While the presidency agreed to slash its budget from N36.1 billion in 2014, to N26.7 billion in 2015, the National Assembly was given a proposal of N150 billion it has been collecting since 2011.

The presidency includes the State House, and several offices such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, and others.

Specifically, the budget for State House, which has the office of the president and vice president, was reduced from N12.15 billion in 2014, to N9.56 billion in 2015.

With the N130billion allocated to the National Assembly, 

we found out that some states of the Federation with over four million people, will spend far less in their 2015 budgets.

Rising Calls for Budget Cuts

A Senator-elect from Kogi State, Dino Melaye, is one of the new national lawmakers who has vowed to champion a campaign for salary cut for his colleagues.

Mr. Melaye, a former member of the House of Representatives, joined many Nigerians to demand a reduction in the salaries of senators and members of the House of Representatives, saying he will personally champion the cause.

He insisted that lawmakers must sacrifice their comfort and allow a pay cut, to yield money that could be used for development projects and proper oversight role.

Rights activist and Senator-elect, Shehu Sani, also shares Mr. Melaye’s position on the remuneration of the country’s lawmakers.

He argued that the way democracy is practiced in the country is too costly. To save cost, therefore, he canvassed the adoption of a unicameral legislature in the country.

Mr. Sani, however, charged the incoming national lawmakers to try to make sacrifices by accepting the review their allowances and salaries.

“Following the hard times and the state of the nation‘s economy, there is need for our lawmakers to make sacrifices,” said Mr. Sani.

“Elective office should be selfless. The image of the lawmakers for now is not good for the integrity of that office.”

States and their budgets. Eighteen states have figures lower than the National Assembly’s N130 billion for 2015

THERE is no doubt that the AllProgressive Congress, APC’s victory in the last general election will take Nigeria in a different direction from the People’s  Democratic  Party, PDP, leadership of the past 16 years. In recent times, the only presidential contender that has attracted enormous public confidence in his ability to tackle plethora of problems confronting our nation is General Mohammed Buhari, the President -Elect.

The expectations are too high and the pressure for a quick-fix is already on. But we should all realise that the General does not have a magic wand to wave and solve all our problems in one day. What we expect from the good General and his party is to show us clearly that they are in the process of laying strong foundation for effective governance and good service delivery. Ours to recommend and advice and wait for positive action. After all, like the popular Nigerian adage says “it is the same Alhaji that we are all tending the cattle for”. To this end, much is expected from APC in their choice for leadership of National Assembly and persons appointed into the Federal Executive Council to assist the President.

The most immediate of these decisions for the President-elect and APC is the matter of leadership of the National Assembly because of the strategic importance of the legislature in a democracy and the agenda of change that was used by APC to serenade Nigerians into handing an over whelming victory to an opposition party, the first time in the history of our  country. APC  leadership should realise that Nigerians will start counting their sincerity and performance from the selection of leadership of National Assembly to the actual performance in office. A weak foundation would have been erected for anybody to hope for a scintillating performance in office if the party allows petty politics and naked show of power to drive their decision. A situation where leadership of APC starts to campaign against zoning arrangement in deciding the issue of leadership of National Assembly bothers on cockiness and chicanery because the party used the same zoning to determine the position of office of President , Vice-president and its National chairman . Our legal lexicon has institutionalised Federal Character or Zoning to ensure inclusiveness and effective administration of our country. So for a party whose major electoral asset is the credibility of its leaders to turn around to canvass against those core values that made it attractive to the populace is courting nothing but scorn.

Any objective person should easily agree that National balancing, strong character, integrity, experience/competence, leadership skill and equity are the core criteria the APC should seek, to determine who will head the 8th National Assembly. The lessons of leadership failure of the PDP should not be lost on the APC. Luckily for the party, the three contenders to the leadership of National Assembly are credible personalities but the party must choose the best to send a message that they are well equipped and ready for leadership. However, I believe that Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki is better situated to discharge the functions of the office of the Senate President and Chairman of the National Assembly than the other two distinguished Senators- Dr. Ahmed Lawan and Chief George Akume. My reasons are as follows;

National balancing: The APC started National balancing when the Presidential and Vice-Presidential tickets were given to the North-West and South-West respectively. The Chairmanship of the party was zoned to South-South leading to the emergence of Chief John Oyegun. Recollect that Chief Bisi Akande was prevailed upon to step down as interim Chairman for the position to go to South-South. The Chairman of Nigerian Governors Forum and Northern Governors Forum have gone to the North-West and North-East. The party initially zoned the position of Senate President to the North-central but later threw the contest open. The reason was not stated but it was speculated that the Godfathers of APC felt that zoning it to North central will make it easier for Dr. Saraki to emerge. But for proper political balancing, the position should go to the zone because it is the zone that made it possible for APC to win when they changed their allegiance from PDP to APC. Dr. Saraki and Chief Akume are from this zone but fortunately for Dr. Saraki, Chief Akume is no longer in the contest.

Strong Character: one of the most endearing qualities of Dr. Saraki is his strength of character. Strength of character is a necessity for an aspirant to such exalted and exacting office. Dr. Saraki showed his stuff when he disagreed with his father on the choice of his successor as the Governor of Kwara State. In a country struggling with nepotism, his insistence on power rotation in his state against his father’s desire to install his sister is a big plus for him. It showed a man with character and class who cannot easily be swayed by base and mundane instincts. His strength of character was also put to test when he left the new PDP to APC at the time they disagreed with President Jonathan on the running of the party. A firm and discerning mind is needed to run the Senate and interface with the executive arm for good governance to become institutionalised in Nigeria.

Integrity: Today, Saraki is one of the most investigated public officer yet nothing has been found to tanish his reputation. A reformer who believes in positive change will always find himself at odds with the system. Some people will call it controversy but it is actually a progressive controversy when a top politician continually engages the system for a better society. If it is not so, then I wonder what it was when  Saraki alerted the nation on the rip off called fuel subsidy.  His motion for a probe of fuel subsidy on the floor of the Senate brought another round of investigation of his tenure as Governor. A Governor who voluntarily waived his immunity and was given a clean bill of health by no less a person than the famous anti-fraud czar, Nuhu Ribadu, at the time almost all the Governors were indicted for corruption cannot be underestimated in matter of integrity .

Experience/Competence: Saraki has shown exceptional ability in this area. As a Governor, he managed his state excellently to enable him to install his successor. He turned Nigerian Governors Forum into an effective body to midwife a robust relationship between the Federal and States Governments. He epitomizes the Igbo adage which is translated to mean that “one cannot use a mirror to search for a golden bracelet worn on the wrist”.

Leadership skill: Many of these attributes have horned the leadership skill of  Saraki to a point of excellence. Nigeria and APC need a person of such great ability to assist General Buhari in the onerous task of nation building. There is no gain saying the fact that every Senator is qualified to be a Senate President but it is only one person that can occupy the position at a time. I believe that the time is ripe for Saraki to lead the National Assembly to join other arms of Government to take Nigeria to prosperity and development. The leadership of the National Assembly should be a bridge between the centripetal and centrifugal forces in National power game viz:  APC and PDP, Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa/Fulani, Ijaw, Tiv, etc. Saraki’s support base cuts across these interest power blocs and he is in a better position to reconcile their conflicting demands by utilising his exceptional leadership skills.

Equity: In law, it is said that whoever comes to equity must go with clean hands because equity can only intervene when somebody is acting in good faith. There are five parties that merged to form APC namely: ACN, CPC, ANPP, PART OF APGA, AND NEW PDP. In the distribution of offices, CPC and ACN have got the President and Vice President respectively. APGA has the Chairman of Progressive Governors Forum while ANPP has the National Chairman of APC and is rumuored to be on the verge of emerging the SGF. It means that it is only the new PDP that is left out in the sharing arrangement. Let’s not forget the fact that it was the new PDP that changed the game for APC when they entered the alliance with their five Governors. So for equity sake, the chairmanship of the National Assembly will be an adequate compensation to them through  Saraki.

Finally, in life, there is time for everything and everyone. It is useless when mere mortals fight hopelessly to rearrange divine arrangement. In my humble opinion, there is an unseen hand that arranged the equation to favour Dr. Saraki and it is needless to fight it. In this period of Change, Let the Nation continue to crown who the cap fits

Well wat I see in all dis is dat dey are trying to whittle down tinubu's power, tinubu seems to be biting more than he can chew, ao can he pick d vice president,senate president n d speaker is APC for him alone? I heard tinubu doesn't want saraki because he sees saraki as someone who has ambition for power,if I may ask wat ambition does tinubu hav isn't it d same power? Most of d northern senators won't support lawan because he has d backn of tinubu n dat means he's been controlled by him on d other hand saraki can stand up to anyone of dis APC chieftain witout any fear. Saraki cnt be controlled unlike lawan who will be willing to do d bidding of dis so called lion of ikoyi

BackDatAssUp:
Don't be sentimental. Why is Sarak's friend base not strong in his party but the PDP?

Remember the new senate is new also in composition of members and party dynamics.

The APC believes too much in their majority and so are not making any major consensus move outside their party.

Recall how tambuwal emerged, well he made in roads with the ANPP and ACN to secure his ticket.

So don't dismiss the PDP. As long as factions are emerging, holding separate press conferences then there is a problem.

At the end of the day, I don't see any of the APC contenders stepping down thereby splitting votes.

And even where by the slimmest possibility they resolve this issue I foresee whoever emerges getting impeached by disgruntled apc factions.

I aint been sentimental am jst giving u a clearer pix, u said saraki's frnd base is not in his party how n where did u get dat? 35 out of 59 hav endorsed him statistically dat is 59% so is dat success or failure?,and mind u most of d PDP senators are ex-gov who are close to saraki having worked wit him while he was d chairman of gov forum of whc they never had any issue wit him so dat is also an advantage, even those senators who are against saraki within APC are not doing it on their own will,they are jst trying to satisfy their godfather n here we hav a saraki who's got no godfather except God himself. He cnt be controlled dats d only reason they dnt want him

free2ryhme:
this is where u goofed I staunched supporter APC and stand for the Truth

Everyone, I mean everyone is equal before the law

ok man,no offence intended. let's jst leave d law to d lawyers. All I was trying to say is dat we shouldn't call someone corrupt unless he has been found guilty.

BackDatAssUp:
You talk as if the APC has an overwhelming majority when it is just a slim lead.

The confusion is in your APC camp now and it is stemming from not able to manage your success.

This is the difference between the PDP and APC.

The APC is already cracking.

That is what you should bother yourself with.

Nigerian politics is more reactional and filled with opportunistic politicians.

Whatever gain the APC is celebrating today was from PDP lapses and their defectors.

So it comes as no surprise if the confusion is now in the APC camp.

well I agree to some extent wit u bt wat u've failed to realise is dat, 1 saraki has frnds cut across d parties, 2,all of dem are lookn for their own personal interest so u tinking all PDP senators will vote for a PDP candidate is wrong, 3,APC will hav no other choice than to back saraki has they won't want a repeat of d tambuwal scenario n I can bet dat some PDP senators will vote against their party

free2ryhme:
we are discussing saraki you are mentioning Kashamu

discuss intelligently

ehyaa sorry mr intelligent I didn't know I touched u where u didn't want, well me involving kashamu is jst a way of gettn @ U because ur comment shows dat u're one of these bias PDP minds........nxt tym think n write diligently witout being bias

free2ryhme:
we are discussing saraki you are mentioning Kashamu

discuss intelligently

ehyaa sorry mr intelligent I didn't know I touched u where u didn't want, well me involving kashamu is jst a way of gettn @ U because ur comment shows dat u're one of these bias PDP minds........nxt tym think n write diligently witout being bias

BackDatAssUp:
The PDP is more compact and united with 49 senators.

At the end of the day the APC vote will be split among themselves.

That will leave PDP to clinch the seat.

You forgot that this is PDP. APC is still a learner compared to the PDP.

Now go back to sleep.

hmmmm compact my foot, are u sure PDP is rlly united?(Answer d question for ur mind), so u've taken nigerian politics to be 1+1=2, even within d PDP some are not in support of their candidate, muazu d game changer is gone so is anenih mr fix it, may Mr Clueless will do better wit ppl like fayose,wike,okupe n the other around him. If PDP is utd as u've said y are they proposing to merge wit parties like apga,kowa n d rest......take some bottles of orijin and off u sleep happily

BackDatAssUp:
A party formed by defectors will surely know no peace

Meanwhile PDP remains more united and focused

At the end of the day the PDP slim minority will clinch the president of the senate.

Remember this is only within the APC and they have not reached a consensus.

9jah politics go sweet die as from May 29

for ur mind abi PDP go win SP seat hmmm e be like say u go need go back to bed make u re-dream ur dream or u made a mistake while editing ur drm or ur PDP actors and actresses were all clueless as to give u a clear picture of wat d senate will luk like......Go back to bed my frnd

free2ryhme:
It is only in Nigeria that people with dodgy past like Saraki will be aspiring to leadership. This was a man who finished SGBN bank with many depositors and shareholders who lost their money still reeling in agony. If we voted for change and anti corruption lawan should be voted while Saraki is led to EFCC to face graft charges

yea saraki would be led to EFCC bt if he's not found guilty he'll be cleared, wat abt uncle buruji kashamu where should he be led to?(Dats ur first questn if u want to be a millionaire), infact umaru dikko's extradition will be a childplay compared to wat awaits kashamu, na cargo container dem go use pack am with heavily armed CIA agents.......in Obj's voice(buruji kashamu coming to a country near U....watch out