"Saraki, Akume favoured as replacement,
THE perennial crisis of high turnover of legislators after each round of election has hit the Senate again, as no fewer than 49 of the 109 lawmakers lost nominations of their political parties to return to the red chamber.
Most of those affected are lawmakers on the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Regardless, many more may still lose the return bid at the general election fixed for February 14, 2015.
Indications have, however, emerged that a combination of PDP and opposition senators affected in respective party primaries could move against the Senate President, David Mark, when the Senate resumes tomorrow.
Sources in the Senate also hinted that the duo of Senators Bukola Saraki and George Akume of the All Progressives Congress (APC) may benefit from any possible move against Mark.
Statistics collated at the end of the senatorial primaries of the political parties indicated that while a number of serving senators lost re-election bids to new faces on the political scene, others had abdicated their seats in their quest to contest governorship election.
Only Senator Ehigie Uzamere (Edo South), who defected from the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) to the PDP, opted not to seek re-election, though the governorship election in his state is not due until 2016.
At the time the senators went into the primaries, 62 of them were PDP members, with 11 former members of PDP already defected to the APC.
It was gathered that less than 30 of the total PDP senators got re-election tickets through the primaries of the party held on December 7.
The affected senators, it was gathered, were unhappy that the Senate President did not push the party enough in order to protect their interest.
The leadership of the Senate had earlier reached an agreement with PDP, which would have guaranteed the return of two senators per state, but the governors later truncated the move.
Shortly before the senators went on recess for the primaries, Senator Alkali Jajere, a member of the APC, had hinted that some of his colleagues were launching an impeachment move against President Goodluck Jonathan.
Senate spokesman, Enyinnaya Abaribe and a number of senators had, however, rejected the claim, insisting that nothing of such was before the Senate.
It was gathered on Sunday that same forces behind Jajere had linked up with aggrieved PDP senators, in a bid to move against Mark.
Special Adviser to the Senate President on Media, Kola Ologbondiyan, however, said on Sunday that no such move existed and that the claim was existing only in the media.
The likes of Akume and Saraki were said to be positioning for the fallout of any push against the Senate President, in the thinking that the seat would not leave the North Central.
Since the 2003 election, not more than 30 senators had been re-elected after each election round, fuelling complaints of loss of capacity as a result of the perennial high turnover of senators.
The statistics in the House of Representatives is also not encouraging, as no fewer than 150 members had been confirmed to lose their re-election bids.
Statistics showed that the three senators from Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, Cross River, Edo and Kebbi may not return to the red chamber in June 2015, while only one senator might return from states like Delta, Kano and Enugu.
Records collated so far indicated that senators like the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba (PDP Cross River Central), who had spent the last 15 years in the National Assembly and the chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Solomon Ita Enang ( PDP Akwa Ibom North East), Bello Mohammed Tukur (PDP Adamawa Central) failed to secure return tickets.
Two of the serving senators failed to secure return tickets in Abia, Delta, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Kaduna, Kogi and Plateau.
The Senate in 2015 is on the verge of losing faces like that of Senators Uche Chukwumerijie (PDP Abia North), Emmanuel Aguariavwodo (PDP Delta Central), Igwe Paulinus Nwagu ( PDP Ebonyi Central), Gilbert Nnaji (PDP Enugu East), Nenadi Esther Usman ( PDP Kaduna South) and Ayogu Eze (PDP Enugu North).
Other senators who may not return in 2015 included the wife of former Senate President, Dr Chuba Okadigbo, Margery (PDP Anambra North), Nurudeen Abatemi Usman (PDP Kogi Central), Boluwaji Kunlere (PDP Ondo South) and Mudashiru Oyetunde Husain (APC Osun West).
It was, however, revealed that many of the losing senators had opted to contest governorship seats.
Those in this category included Senators Aisha Jummai Alhassan (APC Taraba North), Simeon Ajibola (PDP Kwara South), Jibrila Mohammed Bindowo (APC Adamawa North), Benedict Ayade (PDP Cross River North), Ifeanyi Okowa (PDP Delta North), Ayogu Eze (PDP Enugu North), Gyang Pwajok (PDP Plateau North), Umaru Dahiru (APC Sokoto South) and Bagudu Abubakar Atiku (APC Kebbi Central).
Senate Leader, Ndoma-Egba, had recently raised the alarm over the declining capacity in the legislature, saying unlike the executive and judiciary, which keep robust institutional memories, institutional memory in the legislature resided in each lawmaker.
He said there was no law that mandated each lawmaker to produce handover notes, adding that each new lawmaker comes in to grope in the dark.
In an interview, the Senate Leader said not up to 30 out of the 109 senators elected at different times from the Fourth Senate in 1999 to the current Seventh Senate got re-elected after each election round.
He specifically said the current Senate had benefitted from experience, as two of the most experienced senators, David Mark and Belo Gwarzo, occupy the leadership position in the red chamber.
Source: #Tribune News.
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