President Bola Tinubu is scheduled to hold a meeting today with senators-elect and members-elect of the House of Representatives from opposition parties.
The meeting will take place at the State House in Abuja from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., according to an invitation for the meeting signed by the Permanent Secretary of the State House Tijanni Umar, on behalf of the Chief of Staff to the President and outgoing Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila.
Although the purpose and agenda of the meeting was not been explicitly stated in the invitation, it is speculated that the President is seeking to persuade opposition lawmakers to support his nominees for the leadership positions in both chambers.
It is reported that President Tinubu is backing former governor of Akwa Ibom State Godswill Akpabio and the current senator for Kano North Barau Jibrin, for the positions of Senate President and Deputy Senate President respectively.
Additionally, lawmakers Tajudeen Abbas from Kaduna and Ben Kalu from Abia State have been endorsed by President Tinubu for the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House, respectively.
These endorsements by the President’s party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), have faced criticism from some ranking APC lawmakers who are determined to contest the leadership positions.
The meeting with opposition lawmakers-elect is seen as an effort by President Tinubu to secure the victory of his preferred candidates, especially since the APC does not have a comfortable majority in both chambers.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that the APC holds 59 out of 109 seats in the Senate, while the remaining 50 seats are occupied by members from six other opposition parties.
Similarly, in the 360-member lower chamber, the APC has 178 seats, while seven other parties hold the remaining 182 seats.
This means that the APC does not have a simple majority to elect its member as Speaker, as the opposition lawmakers could vote against the APC’s candidate.
However, it should be noted that the challengers to the APC-endorsed candidates are also members of the party, indicating a potential split in the votes of APC lawmakers if an election were held at this time.
The tradition of the National Assembly dictates that the party with the majority seats produces the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Leader, and Chief Whip.
It is believed that the division within the APC regarding the leadership positions may have prompted President Tinubu to convene this meeting, aiming to avoid a repeat of past scenarios where the elected leaders did not align with the preferences of the ruling party.
Notable examples include Bukola Saraki emerging as Senate President in 2015 against the wish of the APC and Aminu Tambuwal being elected Speaker in 2011 against the choice of the then-ruling PDP.