Barely a week after his emergence as minority leader of the Senate, fresh facts have emerged about how Senator Simon Davou Nwadkwon, PDP, Plateau North, outsmarted ranking senators of the Peoples Democratic, PDP to take the position.
It was gathered that prior to the resumption of the Senate from recess, there were a series of meetings of PDP senators and stakeholders brainstorming on how the minority leader would emerge and the list of those selected to be forwarded to the party.
The last such meeting was the one called by the National Working Committee, NWC, to hold with the senators elected on the platform of the party.
It was learned that the meeting was called by the Acting National Chairman of the party, Ambassador Umar Iliya Damagun, but unfortunately, when the time for the meeting finally came, both the chairman and the new minority leader were absent, thereby leaving others confused about what was happening.
It was gathered that a former governor from the South-South was working hard to ensure his preferred person became the minority leader and not the choice of the party who was the immediate past governor of Sokoto, Senator Aminu Tambuwal.
According to a source, the minority leader was absent at the meeting where a decision was to be taken on the position of the party without an apology from him.
The source said there was already a game that was on and the result was what transpired on Tuesday on the floor of the Senate.
This was said to have generated tension in the Senate, especially as PDP senators who already knew what was playing out against the resolution of the party’s NWC, were aggrieved.
It was also gathered that to make the emergence of the new minority leader foolproof, there was already a deal with the president of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, which explained the rush executive session which came before the opposition names were read.
According to the source, the Tuesday, July 4 development was the complete opposite of the decision of the PDP as the party had in a letter dated July 3, 2023, informed Akpabio that the party was still brainstorming and had not concluded on minority leadership.
The letter read: “ The leadership of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, wishes to congratulate you on your emergence as president of the 10th Senate. We believe you will use the position for the advancement of democracy and the development of our country.
“We consider it expedient to notify you of the position of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and the PDP caucus of the Senate on the issue of the minority leadership of the 10th Senate. In the tradition of our party, consultations are still ongoing with the minority caucus of the 10th Senate.
“As it stands, the nomination for the minority leadership positions of the 10th Senate is yet to be concluded. The decision of the PDP caucus on this will be formally communicated to you accordingly,
Please accept the assurances of the National Working Committee’s esteemed regards.’’
Present at the meeting the decision was taken were former Senate Deputy Majority Leader, Senator Abdul Ningi, PDP, Bauchi Central; immediate past governor of Sokoto State, Senator Aminu Tambuwal, PDP, Sokoto North; and Senator Seriake Dickson, PDP, Bayelsa West.
Others are Senator Shuaibu Isa Lau, PDP, Taraba North; Senator Abba Moro, PDP, Benue South; Senator Ned Nwoko, PDP, Delta North; and Senator Sunday Katung, PDP, Kaduna North.
Also present were Senators Aminu Iya Abbas, PDP, Adamawa Central; Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, PDP, Kebbi North; Senator Napoleon Bali, PDP, Plateau South; Senator Ekong Sampson, PDP, Akwa Ibom South and Senator Mohammed Ogoshi Onawu, PDP, Nasarawa South,
Those who took apology were Senator Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, PDP, Gombe North; Senator Haruna Manu, PDP, Taraba Central; Senator Ibrahim Khalid, PDP, Kaduna North; and two other senators.
This letter, coming a day after the resumption of the Senate, was however ignored as the president of the Senate had last Tuesday, announced Senator Simon Davou Mwadkwon, PDP, Plateau North, as the Senate minority Leader and Senator Darlington Nwokocha, LP, Abia Central, as the minority whip.
Akpabio also read the name of Senator Oyewumi Kamorudeen Olarere, PDP Osun West as the Deputy Minority Leader and Senator Rufai Hanga, NNPP, Kano Central as the Deputy Minority Whip.
The announcement of principal officers from the Minority parties showed new Senators as big names of old Senators like Aminu Tambuwal, PDP, Sokoto South; Seriake Dickson, PDP, Bayelsa West; Abdul Ningi, PDP, Bauchi Central and Adamu Aliero, PDP, Kebbi Central all lost out in the political game and intrigues.
Before his emergence, names of ranking Senators were heard and at a point, there was a joint statement from them that they would resist any attempt to impose a leadership on them.
In the 10th Senate, the emergence of Senator Mwadkwon pushed aside the ranking senators, including former Senate Deputy Majority Leader, Senator Abdul Ningi, PDP, Bauchi Central; Senator Adamu Aliero, PDP, Kebbi Central; former Senate leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, PDP, Kebbi North; immediate past Governor of Sokoto State, Senator Aminu Tambuwal, PDP, Sokoto North and Senator Seriake Dickson, PDP, Bayelsa West.
Others are Senator Shuaibu Isa Lau, PDP, Taraba North; Senator Abba Moro, PDP, Benue South and Senator Francis Fadahunsi, PDP, Osun East.
With the sharing of positions from the opposition political parties, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has two, New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP and Labour Party, LP with one each, leaving out the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, the Social Democratic Party, SDP and the Young Progressives Party, YPP, without members on minority leadership of the Senate.
But speaking on his emergence as minority leader on ARISE TV on Thursday, Mwadkwon said: “I’m from the North Central. And when we saw the arrangements and the political office sharing in the whole country, the North Central was completely exempted.
“So the North Central people met and took a decision and said no, we must also vie for a position in the Senate. We’ve been shortchanged in the House of Representatives. And when it was time for the Senate, we found out that no position had been given to the North Central, and we decided that we must try our best.
‘’So, the North Central took a decision. It would interest you to know that all members of the minority parties in North Central nominated me and decided that I should go and run for this position. And, therefore, I accepted the challenge. Therefore, I’ve nothing personal against Tambuwal.
“I think Tambuwal did the magic, even on the floor of the Senate that day, because there were a few persons who were not satisfied with my choice and they approached the Senate president saying we have to go to the executive session. And the president explained to them and they understood the whole thing.
‘’Tambuwal was the one that stood up and said if Senator Simon has this number of signatures, he wishes to state categorically clearly that I should be allowed to hold this position.
“So the rumours that I defeated Tambuwal are false. They’re not true. I don’t have an issue with Tambuwal. I respect him; he’s a man of honour and he was my leader when I was in the House of Representatives.”
(Vanguard)
