NASS LEADERSHIP: There may be a repeat of what happened in 2015 –Shehu Sani

Senator Shehu Sani has expressed fears that the ‘political coup’ that saw Bukola Saraki emerge as the Senate President of the 8th National may repeat itself in the 9th Assembly.

He said this is because he does not believe that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has learnt anything from the mistake it made in 2015.

Sani stated this when he appeared on Channels Television programme, Politics Today, noting that had the APC learnt anything from the experience of 2015, that there would have been only one candidate from the party vying for each leadership position of the 9th National Assembly.

Saraki and Yakubu Dogara, had in 2015 emerge as Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively, despite APC opposition to their aspirations.

The party had then openly rejected the ambition of both Saraki and Yakubu, who were then APC members. But owing to internal wrangling in the party, Saraki and Dogara had their way in what many political analysts tagged ‘modern political coup.’

Sani, speaking on the current politics still playing out among APC lawmakers over the leadership of the 9th Assembly, said the events point to one thing, a possible repeat of Saraki, Dogara saga.

He said, “With what I have seen, there are a lot of statements coming from the APC making positions that they have learnt their mistakes and this time around, they are going to make some corrections and achieve what they want to achieve.

“But in the real sense, I don’t think lessons were learnt from what I can see on the ground. If lessons were learnt, there would be only one candidate from the APC. As long as we have three contenders from the APC, there is a likelihood of a repeat of what happened in 2015.”

APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, had recently boasted that the party will not allow lawmakers of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be appointed as chairmen of committees in the next parliament.

He had said the decision was to ensure what happened in 2015 never repeated itself as APC has learnt its lesson.

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But Sani said the politics of who emerges the Senate President remains “a game of numbers,” adding that APC’s annointed candidate for the position can only win by reaching out to the opposition lawmakers and strike a deal with them.

Both Ahmed Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila, who have been adopted by the APC as Senate President and Reps Speaker respectively, were same people APC also adopted for the same positions in 2015, but they lost.

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