Some aspirants vying for various leadership positions in the 10th National Assembly refused invitations from individuals claiming to represent President-elect Bola Tinubu, intensifying tensions within the political landscape.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that a source close to one of the Senate presidency hopefuls revealed that the aspirants received a request for a meeting at a prestigious hotel in Abuja on Saturday evening.
Leading the race for the Senate presidency are Abdulaziz Yari and Orji Uzor Kalu, while the G-6 Aspirants Forum, consisting of Idris Wase, Aliyu Betara, Sani Jaji, Sada Soli, Ahmed Gagdi, and Mariam Onuoha, seek the speakership position.
The scheduled meeting, slated for Sunday (yesterday) at 8 pm, faced unanimous rejection from the aspirants after consulting among themselves.
They, however, preferred to engage with the president-elect individually to facilitate more meaningful discussions, citing the unpredictable nature of politics.
The source said: “In politics, anything can happen. You cannot rule out surprises, so upon consultations among themselves, they all declined, insisting they would rather meet the president-elect one on one for meaningful engagement.”
Meanwhile, this newspaper learnt that Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila is preparing to present lawmakers-elect’s endorsements in support of Tajudeen Abbas for the position of speaker to the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s National Working Committee (NWC).
Despite initial denials, Gbajabiamila confirmed his support for Abbas and Benjamin Kalu as speaker and deputy speaker, respectively, in the 10th House of Representatives.
A message sent to members of the Unity Group stated: “Good morning, honourable members. Please, you are respectfully invited to accompany Tajudeen Abass to a meeting with the national chairman and members of the National Working Committee, NWC, of the APC on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, at the party secretariat. Time 2.00 pm. Please members are to converge at Stratton Hotel by noon. Thanks and God bless.”
Confirming that the speaker would lead Abbas and a group of lawmakers to the APC national headquarters on Tuesday, a returning lawmaker from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) expressed confidence in Abbas’s ability to gather sufficient support, Vanguard reports.
However, concerns were raised regarding the lack of understanding exhibited by other disgruntled APC aspirants.
The source stated, “It is true we are meeting the NWC of the APC on Tuesday. Mind you, some of us are not members of their party, but we believe in the choice put forward by the outgoing speaker. He would lead our team to meet with the national leadership of the APC. As of today, we are confident in forming a majority to elect Abbas as speaker. We only appeal to other APC aspirants to demonstrate understanding, as the APC may suffer if they don’t cooperate.”
