Martins Ifijeh
The senator representing Kano North senatorial district, Barau Jibrin has tipped the leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC) Caucus in the red chambers, Ahmed Lawan as the next senate president.
He said by May 29, 2019, Lawan would become the longest serving lawmaker in the ninth Senate; a feat he said qualifies him to be elected next senate president, since it is an international parliamentary practice worldwide for longest serving lawmakers to lead their assemblies.
In a statement made available to THISDAY yesterday, Jibrin, who is also the Chairman Senate Committee on TETFUND, said in parliaments all over the world, presiding officers of assemblies were elected based on their experiences as leaders of the caucuses of the various assemblies.
He said: “When a party secures a majority after a general election into an assembly, the leader of the caucus of such a party in the assembly transforms to be the president or speaker of such an assembly in a process devoid of any rancour. The practice is adopted because of the precept of the more you stay in the assembly, the more experienced you are.
“Hence, the president of the ninth Senate should be Senator Lawan from Yobe State as he is the leader of the APC Caucus in the current 8th Senate.”
He emphasised that Lawan, who is a PhD holder, will by May 29 gotten uninterrupted 20 years experience as a legislator(1999- 2019) in the National Assembly, adding that he did eight years in the House of Representatives and currently doing 12 years in the Senate.
Jibrin said: “The parliament as a unique arm of government all over the world thrives on experienced parliamentarians providing leadership in order to give purposeful direction to the other arms of government and the society at large.
“An added advantage for the emergence of Lawan as our next president is that the APC got its second highest votes from the North-east geopolitical zone where he hails from. The highest votes came from the North-west where President Muhammadu Buhari hails from,” the lawmaker said.
He called on other senators-elect to toe his line of reasoning by following international best parliamentary practices in the election of Lawan as the number three man in the country come May 2019.
