Olusesan Oba
The All Progressives Congress has reportedly resolved the brewing crisis between the camp of Senators Opeyemi Bamidele and Ali Ndume over the position of the Senate Leader as the ruling party came up with a “win-win template’ that accommodated contending interests.
Bamidele and Ndume had locked horns in a battle for the Senate leader post after they both worked for the emergence of Senator Godswill Akpabio as the President of the Senate. Efforts to get either of the two candidates to step down had failed but the APC reportedly prevailed following a meeting with all parties involved in the race to fill the vacant principal offices.
The source said the power-sharing formula in the Senate is as follows: Opeyemi Bamidele (Ekiti Central, Southwest, Senate Leader); Dave Umahi (Ebonyi South, Southeast, Deputy Senate Leader); Ali Ndume (Borno South, Northeast, Chief Whip) and Lola Ashiru (Kwara South, Northcentral, Deputy Chief Whip).
The source told The Nation that “With this formula, the party expects a stable Senate. Hopefully, our senators will adopt this.
“The party doesn’t need to foist leadership on the Senate, but at the same time, we cannot be watching our senators split over a manageable situation.
“Both Bamidele and Ndume in particular are highly experienced. They also contributed to the emergence of the President of the Senate, Sen. Akpabio. It, therefore, became necessary to design a template formula for peace in the upper chamber.”
In the House of Representatives, a similar peace formula was struck last night.
Another source said: “So far, a consensus has been built around Prof. Julius Ihonvbere (Owan Constituency, Edo State, Southsouth) as the Majority Leader, Dauda Kumo (Akko Constituency, Gombe State, Northeast) as the Chief Whip and Woman Rep Adewunmi Onanuga (Ikenne/Sagamu/Remo Constituency, Ogun State, Southwest) as Deputy Chief Whip.”
The deputy leader position was being finalised last night.
A member of the National Working Committee (NWC) confirmed the party’s breakthrough.
He said: “The APC leadership may write letters to the leadership of the two chambers.
“What is delaying it was the trip of the National Chairman of the party, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, to Nasarawa State for a check-up.”
