Tunde Thomas
With 20 years parliamentary experience in the Senate and the House of Representatives, Senator Ahmad Lawan has been described as eminently qualified to run the affairs of the Senate in the in-coming 9th National Assembly.
Making the declaration in a statement issued at the weekend, the Executive Director, Citizens Consultative Assembly, CICON, Clarion Augustine noted that Lawan stands shoulder above others, adding that a few lawmakers can match his credentials.
While saying that the group has noticed the needless altercation that has been going on since the governing APC zoned the post of Senate President to the North-east and eventually settled for current Senate Leader Ahmad Lawan, Augustine insisted that there was no need for such as Lawan remained the best person for the job.
While opposing the idea of secret ballot for electing leaders of the in-coming 9th National Assembly, Augustine said the practice across the world is to have the political party with the controlling majority to produce the Senate President or the Speaker of the parliament.
‘’We are compelled to lend our voice and support to global tradition and the best parliamentary practice in the selection of leaders of the parliament. Election is done openly on the floor of the hallowed chambers in the most transparent manner. We are therefore, urging all Nigerians especially voters to insist that their representatives in the National Assembly toe the universal parliamentary practice of voting ranking members and openly. We insist strongly that the impending election of the leadership of the Senate should not deviate from global legislative practice of openly electing their leaders’’, he declared.
Expressing the group’s support for the All Progressives Congress, APC as the party with the most Senators and representatives to produce the leaders of both chambers, Augustine recalled that it was APC ‘s inability to act decisively in 2015 that led to the emergence of Dr. Bukola Saraki as Senate President against party preference,a situation which he noted led to sour relationship between the executive and legistlative arm of government.