TNN.ng: Akume

Senate Presidency: Saraki, Lawan Lobby Mark, PDP Senators For Support

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<b>The two candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who will contest the Senate President position during the inauguration of the 8th Senate, Senators Bukola Saraki (Kwara Central ) and Ahmad Lawan (Yobe North), have shifted their campaigns to the Peoples Democratic Party's  (PDP) senators-elect.</b></div>
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Saraki and Lawan were initially preparing for the primary election earlier planned for them by the APC leadership at a retreat on Saturday before the arrangement was frustrated following the emergence of two groups which queued behind each of the aspirants.</div>
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The other two aspirants, Senators George Akume (Benue North-West) and Ali Ndume (Borno South) have jettisoned their ambitions, thus queuing behind Lawan and Saraki respectively.</div>
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Investigations by our correspondent revealed that while a chieftain of the APC and 24 senators-elect mainly from the North-West and the South-West had endorsed Lawan, no fewer than 35 senators-elect had adopted Saraki and communicated their intention to the party's leadership.</div>
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It was gathered that the pro-Saraki group, under the aegis of <b>The Like-Minds Senators</b>, apart from reaching out to the PDP senators-elect, had also started canvassing supports from prominent leaders of the APC.</div>
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For instance, about 18 members of the group, on Sunday, visited a former Vice-President, Abubakar Atiku, in his Asokoro, Abuja, residence to seek his blessing for their candidate, Saraki.</div>
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Atiku, on the occasion, urged the party to respect internal democracy and legislative independence in order to guarantee peace between the executive and the legislature in the in-coming administration.</div>
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At the meeting, the former VP said: “I am aware that the APC had zoned the senate presidency to the North-Central but if the position of the party would change, then the National Working Committee of our party would meet to cancel the position.</div>
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“I have always been a democrat and I believe in internal democracy. If your group claims that you have 35 APC senators and that nine out of the 12 senators from the North-East are with you, then I think the party needs to respect your agitation.”</div>
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Atiku therefore urged members of the pro-Saraki senators to conduct their activities well and do nothing that would jeopardise the collective interest of the party.</div>
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It was learnt that the NWC of the APC might likely hold an emergency meeting within the week to take a position on the issue of the National Assembly leadership, since an attempt to produce a consensus candidate for the post of the senate president had failed.</div>
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The fear of some leaders of the APC, according to some members of the party, was that the 49 senators-elect on the platform of the PDP might take advantage of their number and the division within the APC to also present a candidate for the post.</div>
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But further investigations on Sunday revealed that the two gladiators in the race, Saraki and Lawan, had started serious moves to secure the support of the PDP senators-elect, especially the out-going Senate President, David Mark. They assured them that they would play significant roles in the administration of the red chamber.</div>
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It was learnt that members of the pro-Saraki group were assuring their colleagues in the opposition that their candidate would guarantee legislative independence because there would be no godfather in the APC to influence his actions.</div>
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The Lawan camp, on the other side, asked the PDP caucus to reject Saraki because he, alongside others, allegedly contributed to the fall of the party by defecting to the APC.</div>
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Accordingly, they said they should pay him back by supporting the emergence of Lawan as senate president.</div>
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<b>The Punch</b></div>
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Senate Presidency: Saraki, Lawan Lobby Mark, PDP Senators For Support

The two candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who will contest the Senate President position during the inauguration of the...

Senate Presidency: 37 APC Senators Endorse Lawan/Akume Ticket

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQydmebcXufL1TlRSy0UEveuPwuG3aaqLlBqshpn7dGMXwN2cAHTrNIt-7bc0baJtdczuAKwwbIkuLw9hJSu1S725PgMGl1YOcnFNE_FJka8GL-9_KSEvvi9T6cqcD6_1QhDfkjrzqqZmZ/s1600/Akume.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQydmebcXufL1TlRSy0UEveuPwuG3aaqLlBqshpn7dGMXwN2cAHTrNIt-7bc0baJtdczuAKwwbIkuLw9hJSu1S725PgMGl1YOcnFNE_FJka8GL-9_KSEvvi9T6cqcD6_1QhDfkjrzqqZmZ/s1600/Akume.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b>Thirty-seven senators-elect out of the 59 elected on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform are backing Senators Ahmed Lawan and George Akume for Senate President and Deputy Senate President.</b></div>
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The senators under the auspices of the Unity Forum drawn from four-geopolitical zones issued the statemenet on their stance yesterday.</div>
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It was signed by Senator Robert Ajayi Boroffice (South-West), Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim (North-East), Senator Barnabas Gemade (North-Central) and Senator Abu Ibrahim (North-West).</div>
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The senators said they decided to build consensus around the candidature of Lawan/Akume to make things easy for the party and putting the interest of Nigeria first.</div>
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The members of the forum said efforts were still being made to convince other senators-elect to support the Lawan/Akume consensus candidates.</div>
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They insisted that the alliance of Senators Lawan and Akume with other members offered the APC the best window of opportunity to resolve the issue of the Senate presidency and take the Senate to the next level from the legacy left by the 7th Senate.</div>
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The forum said: “Given the conflicting media accounts surrounding the issue of the prospective candidate for the Senate presidency from the APC, we of the Unity Forum are constrained to make this clarification.</div>
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“This response has become necessary because we do not want to portray our party as a collection of desperate, indiscipline and selfish people.</div>
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“Rather, we believe that party preservation and the overall interest of the party should be paramount at this point.</div>
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“For the records, there was no time before the retreat, during the retreat or after the retreat where and when the issue of a primary election to pick the Senate President was tabled or agreed upon.</div>
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“Nowhere in the party leadership structure can we find the mandate for the conduct of any election with regard to the emergence of the Senate Presidential candidate.</div>
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“Any contrary information, out there in the social or any kind of media is false, self-serving and intended to mislead the public.</div>
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“As far as we know, the National Chairman of the party, John Odigie-Oyegun, gave the advice that we all meet in an effort to build a consensus among the different camps towards finding a harmonious solution.</div>
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“That was how far it went. There was no election that was called. It was now left for the APC members at the retreat to internally bond together to find a workable solution.</div>
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“To this end, different caucuses met from the entire geo-political zone to discuss the candidacy of those contending for the Senate Presidency.</div>
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“After the caucusing, the members of the Unity Forum comprising of senators from the Northeast, Northcentral, Northwest and Southwest reached a resolution to support the Senator Lawan Ahmad and Senator George Akume ticket for the Senate President and Deputy Senate President respectively.</div>
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“This collaboration is encompassing and accommodating of all the tendencies within the party in the overall interest of the party and Nigeria.”</div>
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The senators added: “Presently, about 37 senators have agreed to the Lawan/Akume arrangement. We decided to disclose this to check the falsehood flying around.</div>
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“What we are trying to do is to make things easy for the party by putting the interest of Nigeria first.</div>
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“In the light of the above, we wish to state expressly that the effort to convince more senators to participate in the consensus building within our party is ongoing. We recognise the discretion of each senator to vote any candidate.”</div>
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The forum said while it could not blame anyone for personal ambition, such ambition “cannot be superior to the stability, credibility and cohesiveness of the National Assembly”.</div>
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But the statement said the “alliance forged by Senators Lawan and Akume alongside other members offers the APC the best window of opportunity to resolve the issue of the Senate presidency and take to a higher standard from the legacy left by the 7th Senate”.</div>
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<b>The Nation</b></div>
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Senate Presidency: 37 APC Senators Endorse Lawan/Akume Ticket

Thirty-seven senators-elect out of the 59 elected on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform are backing Senators Ahmed Lawan and ...

Suswam Mobilizes Support For Akume Over Senate Presidency

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<b>Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam, has publicly declared support for the ambition of Senate Minority Leader, George Akume, to preside over the eighth Senate.</b></div>
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He spoke at a meeting of Benue State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholders at the party's secretariat on New Makurdi road, Makurdi.</div>
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PDP leaders in the state were led by its chairman, Dr Emmanuel Agbo and his deputies from the three senatorial zones.  The governor promised to deploy all his goodwill and networks across the nation to canvass support for Akume.</div>
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Akume, he stated, has served meritoriously as Minority Leader and will serve the Senate well if elected to the exalted position.</div>
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It is believed that Suswam's support for Akume might swing votes in his favour.</div>
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Suswam is a member of the influential Nigerian Governors' Forum (NGF) with five members as senators-elect.</div>
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They include Aliyu Wammako (Sokoto); Theodore Orji (Abia);  Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom);  Jonah Jang (Plateau) and Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano).</div>
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Also, Suswam was in the House of Representatives between 1999 and 2007.</div>
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Many of his colleagues have since graduated to the Senate.</div>
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Some of them include: Binta Garba (Adamawa North); Uche Ekwunife (Anambra Central); John Eboh (Cross River Central); Fatima Raji-Rasaki (Ekiti Central);  Philip Aduda (FCT); Nazif Suleiman (Bauchi) and Bala Ibn Na'Allah (Kebbi South).</div>
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Others are: Olusola Adeyeye (Osun Central); Gilbert Nnamdi (Enugu); Buhari Abdul Fatai (Oyo North); Olaka Nwogu (Rivers South East); Usman Nafada (Gombe); Ali Ndume (Borno) and Emmanuel Bwacha (Taraba South).</div>
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It is believed that if he succeeds in influencing these senators-elect, Akume might clinch the presidency.</div>
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Suswam Mobilizes Support For Akume Over Senate Presidency

Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam, has publicly declared support for the ambition of Senate Minority Leader, George Akume, to presid...

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Senate Presidency: Saraki, Lawan Lobby Mark, PDP Senators For Support

Senate Presidency: 37 APC Senators Endorse Lawan/Akume Ticket

Suswam Mobilizes Support For Akume Over Senate Presidency

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