PDP Vs APC: Ekweremadu, Lawan Lock Horns Over Majority Party In Senate

A mild disagreement ensued on Thursday between Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, and the Majority Leader, Senator Ahmed Lawan, over which party is majority in the Senate between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The disagreement over the Senate membership composition followed a point of order raised by Mr Lawan who is the Senator representing Yobe North and who is of the ruling APC.

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At the Senate plenary presided over by Ekweremadu, the Majority Leader had claimed that there were 56 APC senators as against PDP’s 46 in the upper legislative chamber.

Mr Lawan was reacting to a story published in Daily Trust on Wednesday which reportedly put the number of APC senators in the Senate at 57 and that of PDP at 58.

But reacting, Ekweremadu, who represents Enugu West senatorial district and who is of the opposition PDP, countered the Majority Leader, saying his claim weren’t backed with facts.

Lawan had said, “On page 5 of Daily Trust of Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2018, it is reported that the APC senators are 57 and PDP senators, 58.

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“For the record, Mr President, APC senators are 56 and PDP senators are 46.

“On page 7, the Daily Trust reported that when a question was put for the confirmation of Festus Keyamo for NDIC governing board, the nays had it, but that you said the ayes had it.

“For the record, the first time you put the question, there was no clear winner, so you put the question again, and Mr President, your judgment was right because the ayes had it.

“I needed to put the record straight so that nobody in the future is misguided on what happened in the Senate,” he said.

In his response to the Majority Leader’s claim, the Deputy Senate President said,“On the issue of the number, I don’t think there is any particular statistics in respect of how many APC or PDP members are in the Senate.”

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