Senate Presidency: We Will Upset APC’s Arrangement If—PDP Senator

<h4>Senate Presidency<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that some Senators in the opposition political parties in the National Assembly have vowed to upset any arrangement by the all progressives congress&comma; APC&comma; if the party’s principal offices zoning pattern contrasts with the standing rules of the senate&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;This decision by opposition Senators is coming on the heels of final preparations for the formation of the 10th National Assembly&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;At the moment&comma; it is speculated that the choice of the next senate president would largely depend on the zoning of the office&comma; among other principal offices&comma; by the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress &lpar;APC&rpar; which so far has clinched 57 seats&comma; with the People’s Democratic Party &lpar;PDP&rpar; making do with 29&comma; while the Labour Party managed to coast home with 6 members&period; New Nigeria Peoples Party &lpar;NNPP&rpar; and the Social Democratic Party have 2 members each while All Progressives Grand Alliance &lpar;APGA&rpar; and Young Peoples Progressive Party &lpar;YPPP&rpar; have one member each&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;At present&comma; top contenders for the hot seat are the current senate president&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;vanguardngr&period;com&sol;">Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan &lpar;Yobe North&rpar;&comma; Ali Ndume &lpar;Borno South&rpar;&comma; Akpabio Godswill &lpar;Akwa-Ibom North&rpar;&comma; Orji Uzoh Kalu &lpar;Abia North&rpar;&comma; Jibrin Barau &lpar;Kano-North&rpar;&comma; and Mohammed Sani Musa &lpar;Niger-East&period;<&sol;a><br &sol;>&NewLine;Lending his voice Wednesday morning Arive TV programme&comma; Senator Agom Jarigbe cautioned APC to allow Senator pick who they want as their leaders&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;He noted that there is a standing Senate rule which guides how principal officers would emerge in any fresh legislative assembly&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;According to him&comma; Principals offices are reserved for returning legislators&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We cannot go outside senate standing rule&period; Senators should be allowed to choose its leaders&period; The South South caucus will meet soon to take a position based on our personal convictions and the interest of our zone&comma;” he stated&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;He added that competence is key in selecting principal officers and not just about where a senator comes from or the political party he belongs&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We should choose the best&comma;” he advised&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Senator Agom Jarigbe&comma; 52&comma; who hails from Ibil in Ogoja Local Government Area of Cross River State is currently a member of the Senate in Nigeria&&num;8217&semi;s 9th National Assembly representing Cross River North&period; The PDP Senator who read Chemistry and graduated from the University of Calabar&comma; Cross River State in 2004 defeated governor Ben Ayade in the February 25 election&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;