Politics
NASS Leadership And Endorsement Crisis

Who leads the 9th National Assembly is already a contentious issue. Although the National Assembly is self-regulatory, the controversy was sparked off by the endorsement of personalities for the positions of the Senate President and Speaker House of Representatives by the leadership of All Progressives Congress (APC).
President Muhammadu Buhari, APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole and APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, settled for Sen. Ahmad Lawan and Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila for Senate President and Speaker, House of Representatives, respectively.
Buhari at a dinner for Senators-elect of the APC, impressed it upon them that Lawan, the current Senate Leader, would be the party’s choice for the Senate Presidency.
“Buhari made it known that Lawan is his choice and begged the Senators-elect to support him.
“He spoke about how the present leadership of the National Assembly slowed down his government, stressing that the last four years have not been good for his government because of the hostilities from the leadership of the National Assembly.
“The president said that he spent 12 years aspiring for the presidency and that the first four years was almost ruined and frustrated by the leadership of the National Assembly.
“He said that though there would be friction between the executive and legislature, he wants a situation where if there is a misunderstanding, it will be settled like a family,” a Senator-elect who attended the meeting said in an interview.
Oshiomhole, who also spoke reaffirmed the president’s position.
According to him, the essence of the meeting is to plan on how to manage the leadership of the National Assembly to ensure that there will be no business with the opposition this time around.
He declared that the leadership of the 9th National Assembly will comprise only APC members and won’t be “adulterated’’ by the opposition.
Oshiomhole noted that the ruling party had already about 65 Senators-elect out of 109 and 223 House of Representatives members out of the 360 and could take decision at any time without recourse to other political parties.
In the same vein, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, explained that the party leadership preferred Lawan to other contestants because of his consistency and intellectual capacity.
However, the position of the national leadership of the APC appeared not to be acceptable to all the members.
Already, leaders from the North-Central zone had rejected zoning of the speakership to the South-West, while Sen. Ali Ndume, from the North-East like Sen. Lawan said he would contest the Senate Presidency.
Ndume demonstrated his seriousness to contest the position as he recently released his agenda.
Ndume, who has been in the National Assembly since 2003, promised to improve upon the performance of the 8th Senate.
He said that he would make the Office of the Senate President less attractive by reducing the unnecessary privileges attached to it.
Ndume remained unyielding, after a recent visit to Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo at Presidential Villa, Abuja, which may not be unconnected with the Senate Presidency issue.
He told State House Correspondents in a brief interview, “Me step down? I am still consulting.”
APC stakeholders from the North-Central zone recently lodged their protest at the National Secretariat of the APC in Abuja.
They demanded zoning of the House of Representatives speaker to the zone.
The group, under the auspices of North-Central APC Ambassadors, in a letter dated April 1, addressed to the National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, insisted that the zone should be given the opportunity to produce the speaker of the House of Representatives.
The zone, they said, should be rewarded for giving Buhari 2.4 million votes in the presidential poll.
The letter was jointly signed by coordinators from Kwara, Plateau, Niger, Nasarawa, Kogi and FCT.
However, Mr Yakubu Dogara, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, did not condemn endorsement, but advised political parties to resist the urge to impose candidates for leadership positions in the two chambers of the National Assembly.
Dogara spoke at the orientation ceremony organised for 9th National Assembly members-elect.
According to him, history has shown that sponsoring candidates by political parties for NASS leadership positions is always a futile effort.
He advised political parties with such agenda to ensure that they carried all their members along so that they would have a sense of belonging and defend their leaders, when the need arose.
He said: “I am not here to dictate to the parties, parties have their manifesto, parties know how they conduct their businesses.
“But one thing I have said, if you followed the business during this induction exercise, it is always better to allow the leadership to emerge from the people.
“But where leadership has been forced upon the people, in the history of the NASS, we are all part of this history in Nigeria, it has never endured.
“Whoever a party is sponsoring or supporting, they should make sure that they have the backing of the legislators so that they accept it, own the process and own the leadership.
“That way, they will always come out to defend it, but in a situation where it is forced, literarily driven down their throats, in most cases, even in the Senate, it doesn’t augur well.”
The speaker said that an aspiring leader must possess the ability to go about achieving his ambition without rancour.
He further said that such an aspirant must also have the ability to steer the affairs of the legislature to surpass the achievements made by the 8th Assembly.
“Some of us, who have been on the field know how that is done and our advice is that we stay calm,” Dogara said.
He said that even though many people were aspiring for leadership positions in the NASS, it would be imperative to have a rancour-free election.
He said that the important thing was for the emergence of those that would “be able to sustain what we have done in the 8th Assembly and even surpass it.
“We do not want any leadership that will take us back, we have made a lot of mileage.
“And we hope we are able to get the kind of leadership that will build on the achievements of this assembly, which is unparalleled in our legislative history.
“So, I will advise members to look at members that have thrown themselves into the race to see who it is that will aggregate their aspirations better and be able to surpass the records of this current Assembly,” the speaker said.
Meanwhile, a group that calls itself All Progressives Youth Solidarity Network, has appealed to the leadership of the APC to withdraw support for incumbent Senate leader, Ahmed Lawan, as their anointed choice for the presidency of the 9th Assembly.
Addressing newsmen recently in Abuja, Coordinator of the group, Shuaibu Usman, said all the contenders for the exalted office should be rejected having played prominent roles in the current Senate leadership led by Senator Bukola Saraki.
“On this note, we call on President Muhammadu Buhari, the National Leader, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and party faithful to immediately come to the aid of the APC members and shop for a candidate without PDP connection ahead of the June inauguration of the National Assembly.’’
Contemporary observers say it is obvious that the way things are going, what played out in June 1999, when Chief Evan Enwerem was elected Senate President may repeat itself.
Enwerem was the preferred candidate of then President Olusegun Obasanjo and the party leadership. Dr Chuba Okadigbo, from the South-East where the position was zoned defied the endorsement.
He contested against Enwerem, and on the floor of the Senate on June 17, 1999, Enwerem defeated Okadigbo.
The Okadigbo group did not give Enwerem, whom they perceived as a stooge to the executive a breathing space, and on Nov. 18, 1999 he was impeached and Okadigbo elected Senate President.
The executive and other forces ganged up against Okadigbo, and he was subsequently impeached in August, 2000 and Anyim Pius Anyim elected as Senate President.
How the leadership issue in the 9th National Assembly will end up is still uncertain, but the advice of Dogara and his postulation should not be ignored.
“But where leadership has been forced upon the people; in the history of the NASS, we are all part of this history in Nigeria, it has never endured.’’
All the gladiators in the leadership question in the 9th National Assembly should learn from the lessons of history, and make a difference from the age long adage that people do not learn from the lessons of history.
Ukoh is of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
Obike Ukoh
Politics
Reps Constitution Review Committee Holds Zonal Hearing For Rivers, C’River, Akwa Ibom In Calabar

A press statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Cross River State Governor, Mr Linus Obogo, disclosed that the Calabar Centre — designated as Centre B — will host representatives and stakeholders from Cross River, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom States.
The public hearing is scheduled to take place on Saturday, July 19, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at the Transcorp (Metropolitan) Hotel, Calabar.
The initiative, according to the statement, is designed to promote inclusive dialogue and capture the aspirations of Nigerians from all regions.
It aims to serve as a platform for citizens to contribute meaningfully to the ongoing national efforts to refine and strengthen the country’s legal and institutional frameworks.
“Citizens, civil society groups, professional bodies, traditional rulers, and other interest blocs are invited to participate in this landmark engagement aimed at advancing a more just, equitable, and responsive Nigerian Constitution,” the statement read.
The hearing forms part of the broader review process of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and is seen as a strategic move toward fostering national unity and addressing structural legal issues within the federation.
Politics
Tinubu’s Contribution To Buhari’s Presidency Marginal – Ex-SGF

For the first time since 2022, when then-presidential aspirant Alhaji Bola Tinubu declared he made former President Buhari Nigeria’s President in 2015, Mr Mustapha dismissed the claims, stressing that the merger only contributed about three million votes in addition to Buhari’s existing 12 million votes in the North.
He insisted that former President Buhari’s integrity, national stature, and disciplined messaging were central to the breakthrough, not the three million votes from the merging parties, which he described as insignificant.
Speaking on the role of the merging parties, particularly President Tinubu, the leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Mr Mustapha, who was the keynote speaker at the launch of the book ‘According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesman’s Experience’ authored by Mallam Garba Shehu, described the impact of the votes from other merging parties as very insignificant.
In attendance were former Head of State Yakubu Gowon, chair of the event; immediate past Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; SGF George Akume, who represented President Tinubu; PDP’s 2023 presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar; former Chief of Staff to Buhari Ibrahim Gambari; elder statesman Babagana Kingibe; former governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Chris Ngige (Anambra), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Raji Babatunde Fashola (Lagos); former ministers Solomon Dalung and Sunday Dare; former Army Chief Tukur Buratai, and Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu’s spokesman, among others.
According to Mr Mustapha, “I do not intend to stir up any controversy. The merger in 2013 was midwifed to create a Buhari presidency. Let us look at the statistics. In the 2003 election, it was the Obasanjo-Buhari presidential contest where Buhari recorded 12.7 million votes. In 2007, it came to 6.6 million, and it went back to 12.2 million in 2011.
“When we were conceptualising the merger, what would give us a headstart? Obviously, it was at the back of our consciousness that the merger with the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), though it had only one state, the ACN had six states, ANPP three states, and when you sum up the total votes that we had as the presidency in 2015, the aggregate of the total votes was 15.4 million.
“So, basically, what we brought to the table after the merger outside the Buhari 12.5 million votes was three million. Before turning to that presidency, it is important to recognise the former President’s role in reshaping Nigeria’s political trajectory.
“In early 2013, as the leader of the CPC, Buhari formally requested and supported the creation of a CPC merger committee, part of a broader coalition-building process that brought together the ACN, ANPP, APGA faction, and elements of the ruling party through the breakaway ‘new PDP’ group. His endorsement and participation, along with other party leaders such as President Tinubu and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, lent credibility and direction to the merger, helping to unify disparate party factions under the banner of the APC. That coalition-building paved the way for the first democratic defeat of an incumbent ruling party in Nigeria’s history.
“President Buhari’s integrity, national stature, and disciplined messaging were central to that breakthrough. No account of President Buhari’s tenure would be complete without acknowledging the extended periods he spent on medical leave. These moments, while politically delicate, were also telling of his leadership philosophy and personality,” he said.
In his remarks, President Tinubu promised to build on the legacies of former President Buhari, stressing that “nation-building is a relay. The efforts of one administration lay the foundation for the next.
“In this regard, I acknowledge the efforts of my predecessor, President Buhari, and assure all Nigerians that the reform-oriented path he initiated will be consolidated and strengthened under this administration. Our Renewed Hope Agenda is inspired by the desire to build a resilient, just, and inclusive Nigeria—a nation that delivers dividends of democracy to all its citizens”.
Politics
Your Lies Chasing Investors From Nigeria, Omokri Slams Obi
Speaking during an appearance on live television on Wednesday, Mr Omokri alleged that Mr Obi’s statements were misleading and damaging to the country’s economic prospects.
Mr Omokri said some investors currently operating in Nigeria were considering exiting the market due to Mr Obi’s remarks.
“That is not true. He doesn’t rile me up. I rile him up. The reason why I came here is because I’m a patriot. Peter Obi lied. You know, foreign direct investors are watching your programme, who are making investment decisions not to come to Nigeria. There are foreign investors in Nigeria that are making investment decisions to leave Nigeria because of the lie he told.
“One of the lies he told is that President Tinubu has borrowed more than the administrations of Yar’Adua, Jonathan, Buhari. That is a blatant lie”, Mr Omokri said.
To buttress his claims, Mr Omokri referenced figures from the Debt Management Office (DMO), maintaining that President Tinubu had actually reduced Nigeria’s external debt burden since assuming office.
“I have here with me data from the Debt Management Office, and Nigerians who are watching can go to DMO.com and search Debt Management Office, Nigeria State of Indebtedness 2015.
“As of 2015, Nigeria was owing a total of $63 billion. When Buhari was leaving office, Nigeria was owing $113 billion. Today, from the DMO, our debt has gone from $113 billion to $97 billion, meaning that Tinubu has reduced our debt by over $14 billion.
“We should be appreciating this man. Yet Peter Obi came here and lied to the Nigerian people. He took the debts and translated them into naira to make it look like the debts have increased”, he said.
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