The battle for who becomes the next president of the senate took a dramatic twist Tuesday when Ali Ndume (APC Borno South), a major contestant for the position described as unconstitutional the purported adoption of the Senate Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan, by the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as President of the 9th National Assembly.
He alleged that the APC leadership had on Monday night at a dinner with President Muhammadu Buhari at Aso Rock directed Senators-elect to vote for Lawan as the next Senate President since he has been annointed by the party.
Expressing shock over the party’s decision without recourse to the Senators-elect, Ndume, a ranking Senator and former Senate Leader, said the party leadership’s move to impose Lawan was contrary to Section 50 (1) (A) of the 1999 constitution (as amended) which gave the Senators-elect the right to elect their leaders on the day of inauguration.