A CROSS section of political leaders and groups, weekend, disagreed over the bid of former House of Representatives Speaker, and immediate past Sokoto State Governor, Senator Aminu Waziri, to become the minority leader of the 10th Senate.
While some of the leaders under the aegis of Citizens Network for Peace and Development in Nigeria, CNPDN, rejected moves by certain elements to Tambuwal as minority leader of the 10th Senate, another group, the Generation Next Collective, GNC, said those opposed to Tambuwal were external forces trying to hijack the minority leadership of the Senate, in order to hurt the integrity and independence of the legislature.
The disagreement came as some political leaders called on Senate President Godswill Akpabio to intervene and facilitate a befitting burial for the late President of the Senate, Joseph Wayas.
The leaders of the CNPDN, who are mainly kinsmen of former President Goodluck Jonathan, apart from rejecting Tambuwal as Senate minority leader alleged that some aggrieved senators were planning to create a crisis in the upper chamber.
Fingering Tambuwal, the political leaders described him as a "desperate and serial political betrayer," who frustrated President Goodluck Jonathan as President and betrayed Tinubu in 2011 after he emerged Speaker of the House of Representatives."
"We totally reject the scheming of Tambuwal and co, geared towards high-jacking the leadership of the minority parties in the Senate for selfish and destructive purposes. Tambuwal should not be allowed to emerge as the minority leader of the Senate because of his antecedents of selfish and acrimonious politics," said the leaders who spoke through the National Secretary of the Forum, Francis Okereke Wainwei.
They said Tambuwal and some senators are trying to recreate the acrimonious relationships between the National Assembly and the Executive that rocked the boat of governance in the past, and which greatly slowed down governance and negatively affected the effectiveness of those administrations.
The leaders however called for calm, but vowed to expose the lawmakers if they continue to push their threats.
State burial for Wayas
Urging Akpabio to intervene and facilitate a befitting burial for Joseph Wayas, who was Senate President from 1979-1983, they said: 'We are hereby appealing to Akpabio, President of the 10th Senate to intervene in the matter and resolve whatever challenges that have led to this unnecessary delay in giving our revered former Senate President a befitting burial.
"We are incurably optimistic that our uncommon transformational leader will heed our call and do the needful," the leaders appealed.
Speaking on plans by aggrieved opposition senators to disturb the peace of the Senate, Wainwei said such moves will be counterproductive.
He said the aggrieved senators were the ones who worked against the collective interest of the nation, when Akpabio was endorsed by the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
The leaders noted that the senators were the ones behind the candidature of Abdulaziz Yari for Senate President and have vowed to continue pursuing their "unpatriotic, selfish and parochial interests by teaming up with the major opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to frustrate the leadership of the 10th Senate, even after losing out in a free and fair elections conducted in the public glare at the Senate."
Ploy to compromise Senate integrity behind gang-up against Tambuwal -- GNC
However, the GNC, a coalition of pragmatic youth and women groups, with core interest in development strategies and democratic accountability, said that the ploy by elements it described as external forces to hijack the minority leadership of the senate, is a danger to the integrity of legislative independence that ensures democratic checks and balances.
In a joint statement by its co - conveners, Mrs Ruth Edehemon and Malam Rufai Abdulahi, PhD, in Abuja, the GNC said that a Legislature without a vibrant, experienced, knowledgeable and independent-minded opposition would remain a liability to the nation and the people, who are the live-wire of participatory democracy.
The GNC said that that's why it's concerned about the coordinated attack on the character and person of Senator Tambuwal, who it said ticked the objective leadership boxes, given his outstanding legislative and administrative leadership experience, capacity and capabilities.
It noted that the role of minority or opposition leadership in a parliament is too critical to the integrity of the legislature, democratic practice, and accountability, to be allowed to be pocketed by external interests that is most likely motivated by extraneous factors, hinged on possible personal vendetta or ideals that do not put to account the overall interest of the people.
Emphasizing the importance of Minority Leader's responsibilities, it said that besides being the official spokesperson of opposition parties in particular and the people in general, the Minority Leader, "develops the minority party's legislative positions, directs negotiations with the majority party, coordinates the minority party's strategy on the senate floor and also leads the minority party in floor debates, for the good of the people and progress of the nation."
Such critical roles, in the estimation of GNC, "Should not be allowed to be manipulated by divisive interests, or unwittingly handed to a proxy puppeteer, obsessed with power and control, masquerading as exclusive oxygen of party survival or cohesion and defender of democracy.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
"These same forces have already taken over the Minority Leadership of the House of Representatives, and have vowed to replicate their authoritarianism in the selection process in the Senate."
Speaking on the current controversy surrounding the selection of the Senate Minority Leadership, the statement said further: "The institution of the Legislature in Nigeria has suffered bruises of negative public perception and mistrust in the immediate past administration, on account of how it handled some of its constitutional responsibilities, in a manner that made it appear like a rubber stamp to many.
"An ideal Legislature requires an objective, conscientious and sensitive majority party leadership and also a robust, responsible and responsive minority leadership to nurture a healthy democracy that would ensure policy initiatives that'll prioritise the interest of the people and equitable distribution of the commonwealth of the nation.
"Senator Tambuwal, either in his past public office positions as a Speaker, eight years as Governor of Sokoto state, Chairman, PDP Governors' Forum, or Director-General of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council in the last general elections, has been unblemished, humble and patriotic."
