Leader of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan, has ruled out the possibility of crisis in the All Progressives Congress over the leadership of the Ninth National Assembly.
Lawan made the remark in an interactive session with newsmen in Abuja.
He said the APC leadership must have learnt lessons from the mismanagement of the party’s majority in the outgoing Eighth Assembly, and would do things differently this time around.
APC will remain the majority party in the 9th Assembly, having secured 65 out of 109 senatorial seats so far, and 221 out of the 360 in the House of Representatives during the February 23 general elections.
In June 2015, Senator Bukola Saraki of the then APC emerged President of the Senate, against the will of the leadership of the party, which preferred Lawan.
To make matters worse for the ruling party, Senator Ike Ekweremadu of the minority Peoples Democratic Party emerged Deputy President of the Senate.
A similar scenario played out in the House of Representatives where Mr. Yakubu Dogara defied the APC’s wish and became Speaker instead of the party’s choice of Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila.
Joined by 10 other senators-elect at the forum on Friday, Lawan said, “We are not in any way thinking that we will have crises; it is not what we are envisaging at all.”
“But let me say that our party, the APC, must have learnt its lessons, and therefore, the party leadership will do something differently this time.
“I am sure our leaders will try to manage this huge success of the APC. And I have no doubt that the party will find us compliant and very supportive of its programmes and those of the administration under President Muhammadu Buhari,’’ he said.
Lawan, who is seeking the Office of the President of the Senate, said, as a loyal party man, he would respect the decision of the party’s leadership even if it does not favour him.
The lawmaker, who represents Yobe North, said he was currently reaching out to other senators-elect to convince them that “we are the right people to lead the Senate and the National Assembly.”