Following the recent election of the Senate President, Deputy Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Deputy Speaker, minority party members in the National Assembly are now vying for the remaining top seats.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the minority caucus, which comprises members from seven opposition parties, has a numerical advantage over the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The opposition parties involved in the race include the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Social Democratic Party (SDP), African Democratic Congress (ADC), and the Youth Progressive Party (YPP).
In the Senate, the APC holds 59 seats, while the PDP has 36, LP has 8, SDP and NNPP have 2 each, and YPP and APGA have 1 each. In the House of Representatives, the PDP leads with 117 members, followed by LP with 35, NNPP with 19, APGA with 5, SDP and ADC with 2 each, and YPP with 1. The APC has 178 members in the House.
The remaining principal positions to be filled by the majority caucus include the Senate Leader, Deputy Senate Leader, Senate Whip, and Senate Minority Whip. Meanwhile, the minority caucus seeks to secure the positions of Senate Minority Leader, Deputy Minority Leader, Senate Whip, and Deputy Minority Whip.
Senator Francis Fadahunsi of the PDP, representing Osun East, has emerged as a prominent contender for the position of Senate Minority Leader. Other contenders include Senators Abdul Ningi and Adamu Aliero.
Fadahunsi has expressed his qualifications for the role, highlighting his experience and the PDP’s strong performance in Osun State during the last general elections.
He said, “Yes, I am interested in the position of the Senate Leader. If the position is zoned to the South-West, then I am eminently qualified for the position.
“I am a major and experienced lawmaker in the South-West PDP. The South-East zone can also be considered, having lost out of the presiding officers, but the party didn’t even get enough votes there.”
While Ningi stated that he is not actively vying for any specific position, he expressed his willingness to accept a leadership role if nominated by the caucus.
“I am not vying for anything, but if I am nominated as either the Senate Leader or whatever position, who am I not to accept it?” he said.
According to sources within the opposition camp, the four leadership positions within the minority caucus will be allocated based on regional representation. The North is expected to fill the positions of Deputy Minority Leader and Minority Whip, while the South will present candidates for Deputy Minority Leader and Deputy Minority Whip.
An anonymous member of the House revealed that the opposition members had reached an agreement on the distribution of positions across regions, zones, and parties.
“The North-West will present an NNPP candidate for the Deputy Minority Leader, while the North-East has adopted Ali Isa of the PDP. The Minority Leader and Deputy Minority Whip will come from the South. The Deputy Whip will by default go to the South-East because that is the base of the LP. Either the South-South or the South-West will produce the Minority Leader.”
Another member of the PDP, however, argued that zones that had already produced presiding officers of the House should have been considered for caucus leadership slots.
The lawmaker said, “The South-East already has the Deputy Speaker, yet the Labour Party is being considered for a minority position, which may take the slot back to the South-East where the party is dominant. That means they will have two leadership positions.
“But the PDP can always have its way with its number in the minority caucus. The PDP has 117 members. The Labour Party has 35. If we decide to vote among ourselves, will they win anything? Meanwhile, there is LP in the South-West; we have some in Lagos, just that we don’t have a ranking (LP) member from there. The only ranking members they have are from the South-East.”
The PDP is scheduled to convene a meeting on Tuesday or Wednesday to discuss the allocation of minority positions within the caucus.
