Senate President Ahmad Lawan has emphasized the need for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to involve opposition parties in the leadership to create stability in the National Assembly.
This comes as the race to fill principal officers’ positions in the National Assembly enters full swing.
Speaking to State House reporters after joining residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for a Sallah homage to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Lawan said that the opposition could not usurp the posts despite the configuration of the 10th National Assembly, in which parties other than the APC will have a strong presence.
Lawan assured that the opposition could only work with the APC majority to ensure stability.
He also called for bipartisan collaboration, stating that it was essential to work with the opposition to ensure that most of the constitutional amendments were passed.
The Senate President highlighted that the opposition would be needed since a constitutional amendment required at least 73 senators, and the APC does not have that number.
Therefore, he urged the ruling party to work with opposition parties to ensure the success of constitutional amendments.
Lawan also praised President Buhari’s service in the last eight years, stating that his administration had done “tremendously well.”
He said that the Buhari administration had reduced insecurity, provided infrastructure, and assented to more legislations than any previous president.
The Senate President added that the legislature did much to support the administration to succeed, and he had no regrets over his actions as Senate President, though he conceded that there were areas he could not satisfactorily deal with.
When questioned about whether he would recontest the Senate President position, Lawan refused to comment, stating that he was not there to answer whether he was running or not.
Article updated 2 months ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.
