Senator Orji Uzor-Kal, Chief of Staff to the Senate and former Governor of Abia, is set to become the next Speaker of the Senate at the 10th session of the National Assembly, which is due to start in June.
Already, the top APC stalwart and leader in Abia state tops the list of candidates for the post of Senate Speaker by feelers from informed party sources.
Other than Kull, Plum’s leading candidates for the job include former Minister for Niger Delta Affairs Godswill Akpabio, Senate Services Committee Chairman Sani Musa, and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Barau Jibrin.
Others include: Ahmad Rawan, the incumbent. Former governor of Gombe province, Danjuma Goje. Adams Osiomhall Former Governor of Edo State, Former Governor of Zamfara Abdul Aziz Yari. Dave Umahi, retired Governor of Ebony and former Senate Majority Leader Ali Ndume.
But sentiment from the ongoing meeting with the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) and all members of parliament elected under its platform is that former Governor Abiah is in favor.
The meeting, which was attended by president-elect Bora Tinub, his vice-president Kassim Shetima, and party leaders, was apparently meant to zone leadership positions for the 10th parliament. is.
Sources at the meeting hinted that the ruling party was on the verge of ceding the seat of Senate speaker to the southeastern geopolitical zone.
According to them, the party is considering among other issues. Regional and religious balance for the zoning of National Assembly leaders, especially the President of the Senate.
Since the next president, Ahmed Tinub, is from the southwest and the vice president, Shettima, is from the northeast and has a large Muslim population, it is speculated that the two regions will not produce a senator and a speaker.
It is also collected that some members of the upper echelon of the APC have called on the party leadership to ensure religious balance, preferably by making the third southeast position Christian.
President of the South-Eastern Extraction, which was not considered by both the ruling APC and the then main opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), before the final presidential and parliamentary elections held on 25 February 2023 There was a serious upset about
Salif Lukman, a member of the APC National Working Committee and the party’s national vice-president, called on the party’s leadership to zone the position of Senate president to the southeast.
“If we have a Muslim president and a Muslim vice president, it would be logical to zone the third-ranked leader of the government, the Senate Speaker, to either the Christian Southeast or the South-South,” he said. He said. .
The current National Assembly is headed by Senate Speaker Rawan from the northeast Yobe as vice-president-elect and Speaker Gbajabiamila from the southwest as Tinub.
As zoning for the Senate Presidency is nearly complete,
The odds are in favor of Cal, who is the highest-ranking senator in the Southeast and has expressed interest in the position.
Umahi, also from the same zone, has resigned as governor but lacks legislative experience. This is an important criterion in the election of officers to preside over both Houses.
Aside from rankings, Kalu has work experience as a senior Senate chief of staff and a key official who was on the APC long before Umahi.
Cal has both executive and legislative experience, having been elected to the House of Representatives in 1993, Governor from 1999-2007, and Senate by 2019.
Experienced lawmakers are considered pan-Nigerian. Born in the East, raised in the North, has operations in Southwest Nigeria and built connections across the country. It was a quiet but necessary tool to lead Congress in a representative democracy.