David Mark, who has been Senate president for eight years, is plotting to head the 8th Senate even as a member of a minority party.
Along with his colleagues in the PDP, he is said to be taking advantage of a lacuna in the Nigerian constitution: the constitution does not state that the Senate or House of Representatives must be led by a member of a majority party.
After the general election this year, the PDP has 49 senators while the APC has 60. The latter recently lost a senator from Borno State.
Mark and the PDP are hoping to deliver bloc votes to Mark and Ike Ekweremadu during the contest for Senate president and deputy Senate president next week.
Two APC senators are left in the race for Senate president: Ahmed Lawan from Yobe and Bukola Saraki from Kwara. The PDP conspiracy is aimed at benefiting from a split in the votes of APC senators. It is buoyed by President Muhammadu Buhari’s stance that he would not interfere in the selections of leaders of the National Assembly — a position that more informed politicians criticise.
The 8th Senate is likely to convene on Tuesday, June 9.
