The elections have come and gone, a new season of the National Assembly will be premièred on the 9th of June when the house will be fully inaugurated. The scheming and the calculations have already begun and whoever is, at this point, found slacking probably lacks ambition or is not so ambitious as the case may be. A lot of political shenanigan was employed in the last season’s game and as blunt as it sounds, this phase will not be left out of the ploys for the next National Assembly leadership struggle.
It is also pertinent to maintain that zoning will likely be the deciding factor in the arrangement of the commanding seats of the two chambers, however, it will not be the ultimate decider that defines how the seats are won. The zoning factor has set all plays in motion and the actors are already finding their routes to success through consultation, declaration and rallying support from their party leaders, fellow senators and honourables members.
The chips are down: the senate presidents; the deputy senate president; the speaker of the house of representative; deputy speaker of the house; majority and minority leader struggling strenuously to take their positions. We are all apprised with the public declaration of Ahmed Lawan and Gbajabiamila as the party candidates for the Senate President and Speaker of House of Representative, however different individuals are coming up with their own different and preferred candidates for the revered seats.Thats the beauty of democracy.
The Deputy Senate President is also a major concern for its value in keeping top and experienced guns in strategic locations at the same time keeping close tab with everybody in the house and in close conformity with the political intrigues as it unravels. The coveted seat is likely going to be between the southwest candidates of Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, wife of the APC leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and former majority leader of the 6th Assembly, Sen. Teslim Folarin who happens to have gained much momentum in the race for the seat.
Sen. Teslim Folarin I can say without equivocation, offers something beyond the ordinary eyes as he can be employed to offer his weighty experience from the days of the majority leader of the house and as a former ECOWAS parliamentarian, he has so much, with experience garnered over the years to offer the Ninth Assembly. He can also come to steady the boat and set up a more serene senate with his relationship with the opposition who can often become a pain in the neck of the ruling party members with their volatile and unpredictable gimmicks.
Senator Folarin is a well known strategist who knows his way through the jagged edges, he’s a brave politician who can be neglected at one’s own peril. His dexterity, techniques and expertise can be engaged in the 9th Assembly to steady the ship of the, yet to sail but cumbersome, National Assembly. This can best be done before the date of elections, June 9 where crucial stakeholders can be engaged and consulted for the best possible interpretation of the whole melodrama and find solutions to the political maelstrom This can also be replicated in the deputy speakership position of the Federal House of Representatives.
It compels repeating that pushing forward TKF, who is already the cynosure of all eyes for DSP position, is not to undermine the meritable conducts, capability and experience of Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, but it is about balancing the tides and the fair spread of leadership of the senate. Bearing in mind that some of the candidates in the executive and legislative arms of government have come from Lagos: vice-president, Prof. Yemi Osinbanjo and anointed next speaker of the house of representative, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila. Lagos in itself alone cannot lay claim to having in possession to the best brains in the southwest, one of the more reasons to encourage an even spread of the National Assembly leadership in the west.
Senator Teslim Kolawole Folarin is a very competent lawmaker who is well accustomed to all the relative intrigues in the hallowed Chambers and no doubt, his invaluable experience over the years can be imported and deployed pragmatically to avoid divisiveness in the Chambers but emplace a peaceful and united National Assembly from it’s trenches to the parapet. We must not rush to write our political history in a hurry.
