Senate Presidency: Lawan, Saraki In Make-or-Break Contest!

Bukola Saraki and Ahmed Lawan

With few days to the end of seventh Senate, the senator representing Kwara Central, Bukola Saraki (APC) and his counterpart representing Yobe North, Ahmed Lawan (APC), are entangled in a stiff contest to take over the leadership of the Senate in the 8th session of the National Assembly.

Saraki, while speaking to journalists yesterday, said he has the support of thirty five (35), out of the fifty nine (59) new senators elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in his aspiration to lead the 8th Senate.

While flaunting before journalists Monday in Abuja, a list containing the names and signatures of the thirty five APC senators-elect, under the aegis of ‘Senators of Like Minds’, he challenged his opponent from Yobe north, Ahmed Lawan, to make public the list of the new APC senators he claims to be his supporters.

On the contrary, Ahmed Lawan had during a press briefing over the weekend, said he has the support of thirty seven (37) out of 59 APC senators-elect, under the aegis of ‘Unity Forum’, in his struggle to become the Senate President in the 8th session of the National Assembly.

During the press conference he held in Abuja, the Senate Minority Leader, Gorge Akume, who was initially in the contest for the number one seat of the National Assembly, stepped down for Lawan, having accepted to be his running mate as the Deputy Senate President.

Meanwhile, Saraki told journalists yesterday in Abuja that the position of the Senate President should not be allowed for learners, but experienced and courageous leaders who can successfully reconnect the parliament to the people.

Responding to the issues of fuel subsidy, he said the subsidy regime in Nigeria is the biggest platform for fraud in form of huge racket being used by oil marketers and government officials to rip off the national treasury on daily basis.

He said the fraud in the scheme was allowed to fester by government through issuance of import licenses to very bogus number of companies, totaling 82 now, with many of them not having the required facilities for such very sensitive national economy assignment with attendant collection of $2 billion on yearly basis for products largely not supplied.

He urged government to take the bull by the horn by completely removing the fuel subsidy and restoring normalcy to the sector, arguing that it would be better to remove the fuel subsidy and deliver the sector and the citizenry from the grip of racketeers in the industry, who would never allow things to work well because of their personal aggrandizement.

According to him, subsidy in itself was never a problem to the country but the bad management of the subsidy, which he said had been turned into a huge racket created the lingering crisis in the oil sector.

“No matter what is happening now, If you go back to look at it, the major issue that dwindled us was the subsidy management. We are talking of about minimum of over $32 billion wasted on it over the last five to six years.

“That is the difference between where we are now and that time. It has impacted on our exchange rate, it is going to impact on our infrastructure, there is no money for capital budget.”

Written by 
By Ali Abare Abubakar & Ikechukwu Okaforadi( People's Daily).

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