THE D-DAY IS FINALLY HERE AS NASS ELECTS PRINCIPAL OFFICERS FOR THE 9TH ASSEMBLY.

Ndume vs Lawan

Hon. Femi GBAJABIAMILA 

This is what is called the day of reckoning. The day that at the end, some would celebrate, while others would agonize over their loss or decimation. For some their electoral values would soar, whilst for the others they would be brought down to ground zero, all they had thought they had would be laid bare before them as others would determine their fates.

Today, Tuesday, June 11, 2019 just a day to the newly endorsed Nigerian democracy day June 12, the day that commemorates what is said to have marked the freest and fairest election ever held in the history of Nigeria, as symbolized by the late Aare Ona Kakanfo, Bashorun MKO Abiola of blessed memory, is when the Nigerian National House of Assembly, would gather to elect their own principal officers to guide them for the next 4 years, God willing. It would be a case of first amongst equals.

A few of those posts that officers would be elected for are, the offices of the Senate President of the Federation & his Deputy, the Speaker of the house of assembly and his Deputy, and other officers and other offices like majority and minority leaders. But the most important ones are the 1st 4 mentioned above. Not only are those offices quite lucrative financially, but the holders of those revered offices immediately becomes the 3rd and 4th in hierarchy of power and influence in the country the minute they get elected.

The ruling party the APC who normally should have had a field day picking those officers to man those important offices just because of the majority they are supposed to have, have not been able to have an outright say, just because they have not succeeded in having a peaceful house. For the APC it's already a divided home and like it is rightly said, "a house divided against itself cannot stand". It's obvious that the APC house is already doing her best to fight all the very obvious signs of disintegration. By their antics they have served into the hands of their enemies, the opposition made up majorly of those that had disgruntly left their party back to the PDP.

With this election today, it is PDP's own way of getting back their own pound of flesh with the obvious connivance of some members of the APC, who the more staunch or loyal APC members, considers desperate politicians. The arch enemies of the APC, are clandestinely led by the PDP presidential candidate at the last election, in the person of his excellency, the former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who is still hell bent on claiming what he claims to be his electoral victory that was illegally snatched from him. Others in the same camp are the likes of the former and most recent senate president, Dr. Bukola Saraki who with the former speaker, Hon. Dogara had led a sort of coup against their own party's preferred choices in 2015 to emerge as both the senate president and the speaker of the house. Though Dogara was fortunately able to return as an opposition member of the House of Representatives, his main man, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki was unfortunately trounced at the elections and couldn't return back to the house of assembly. Even as he is not in the house, he still has his many men in the house to do his bidding, led especially by outspoken and highly comedic Senator Dino Melaye, the forner Chairman of the Committee on the FCT.

While the core APC members are supporting the candidacy of majority leader Senator Lawan-North, Senator Omo-Agege-South-South and Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila-South-West, the renegade APC members and the PDP, are in full support of Senator Ali Ndume-North, Hon. Umar Mohammed Bago-North. Both Ndume and Bago are incidentally also from the APC, but are seen as turncoats for not following the party's hierarchy dictate.

The election is to be done by a simple majority vote carries the day. So if what the PDP has planned works, it would mean that the whole PDP caucus in the house would vote enmasse for Ndume and Bago, with some members of the APC following suit, by that simple calculation they would have just carried the day. But with the wheeling and dealing expected to have taken place, with the awesome amount of money exchanging hands and also deals brokered to facilitate the winning, it wouldn't be just simple mathematics just like that. Hence everyone is watching to see the outcome at the end of the day.

The other shortfall of the outcome of this election, would be that, the so called powerful men, who could make the impossible things happen through their connect and power to deal, would be known at the end of the day. Just like the paperweights too would be revealed to all, in due course.