The lawmaker representing Taraba Central senatorial district, on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Senator Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf, has declared that the leadership of the National Assembly is open to all, irrespective of political party.
Speaking on the ninth National Assembly leadership tussle, Yusuf told Sun that what the leadership of the party did on Tuesday was to recommend some lawmakers for the position and not imposing them on the others.
According to him, “The National Assembly is an independent arm of government so it will be difficult for anyone to say he will dictate who will be the president of the Senate or Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“However, you know that in the 8th Assembly, there was miscommunication between the party, the legislators and the executive.
“And as a result, the leadership of the National Assembly was not in good communication with the party as well as the executive and that has great effect on the smooth running of government.
“That is probably why the party has decided this time that we would not allow what happened in the 8th National Assembly to happen in the 9th National Assembly.
“So, it has taken the lead to make sure that there is good communication with the senators and members of the House of Representatives so that there would not be a repeat of what happened in the 8thNational Assembly.
“That is why the party has recommended a candidate that it is trying to sell to the other senators. This is not an imposition, contrary to what a lot of people believe. That is where we stand at the moment.
“Since some members of the party feel aggrieved with the position of the party, don’t you think the opposition would cash in and take advantage?
“Remember we still have over 50 days to the end of this current National Assembly and that is a lot of time. In politics, a lot can change within 24 four hours.
“So whoever is still interested should not depend on the nomination or recommendation of our party.
“Instead, they should go and meet each of the other senators or members of the House of Representative and sell themselves as to why they want to vie for the positions.
“Once you are elected into the National Assembly, you are going to work with other colleagues across party lines, and that also means you can vie for any position irrespective of your political party.
“Luckily, the office of Senate president has been zoned to the North East and whoever is interested has the responsibility to do their homework.
“The party has given us a sense of direction but the actual work is for the candidates who will also have to go and meet the other members of the Senate, irrespective of their political affiliation.”
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