Lawan said even though the ruling APC has seen its numbers in the national assembly depleted after the last elections, it still has enough strength to control legislative positions.
Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, has boasted that the All Progressives Congress (APC) will still determine who emerges as principal officers in the 10th National Assembly.
As the inauguration of the 10th assembly draws near, the jostle for the positions of Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives is hotting up with opposition parties also threatening to nominate lawmakers to fill those positions.
Commenting on the matter on Friday, April 21, 2023, Lawan said even though the APC no longer enjoys an overwhelming majority in the national assembly, the party still has enough number strength to wield.
Speaking with State House correspondents after joining residents of the Federal Capital Territory for a Sallah homage to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the Senate President said, “There is no way an opposition will decide who should be the senate president or who should be the speaker; it is our party and other leaders that will decide.”
Reacting to the growing concerns that the opposition may explore the reported division in the ruling party and seize the process, Lawan, who dismissed any disunity in the APC, said he doesn’t believe the opposition is planning any surprise.
He said: “I don’t think opposition parties are planning to usurp because it is presumptuous that the APC will not be a united party.
“The APC is a united party and the opposition party will simply work with the APC majority for us to have stability because there is no way an opposition will decide who should be the Senate President or who should be the speaker; it is our party and other leaders that will determine what zone or whoever, and the rest of us in the party will key in and of course, the opposition would have no option but to support.
“I don’t see anything wrong in the opposition talking to us, or we talking to the opposition to ensure that we’re on the same page, because we need the opposition to ensure that we get most of our constitutional amendments when the time is right, passed because we don’t have the 73 in the Senate. So, you need 73 senators at least for you to have any constitutional amendment. So, you would need the opposition.”
Lawan, however, noted that to promote legislative stability, the ruling party must involve opposition lawmakers in the leadership structure, adding that it’s critical to work with opposition parties for rancor-free legislative operations.
“Don’t ever think the opposition should be pushed away. I don’t believe in that. I only believe in a bipartisan chamber because it is more productive, stable, calm and gives you the kind of outcome you will never get with a very rancorous chamber,” the Senate President added.
