9TH ASEMBLY: BOROFFICE TAKES A SHOT AT DEPUTY SENATE PRESIDENT
Now that the National Assembly seats have been won and lost, there is frantic politicking across the geo-political zones, as Senator-elects scramble for principal offices in the 9th Assembly.
The permutations put the South West at a vantage point, should the Deputy Senate be zoned to the region, with three major contending states— Ondo, Oyo and Lagos.
As a rule, the offices of the Senate President and Deputy Senate President are exclusively for ranking senators, which have the likes of Prof. Ajayi Boroffice (Ondo North), Senator Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central) and Teslim Folarin (Oyo Central) as qualified candidates.
The three are ranking senators re-elected to the Senate for the third time on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). From all indications, the three gladiators are slugging it out among themselves.
Presently, there are 106 seats declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), with 64 for APC and 41 for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while the Young Progressive Party (YPP) has a seat. The result of three seats —Plateau, Taraba and Imo States are yet to be announced.
Having a majority of senators-elect, APC has warned its members to be cautious in how they handle the issue of who occupies principal offices. The party leadership said it would intervene to prevent the palace coup and betrayal that characterised the Eighth Assembly.
With a National Assembly that has 43 returnees and over 15 former governors, the onus of leadership must rest on persons with the mien, charisma and intellect of no mean repute to lead the Assembly.
The only qualified candidate from Ondo State, Senator Boroffice, hails from Oka-Akoko, Akoko Southwest Council. He is a Professor of Zoology, with rich dossier in public service as the founding Director General of National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), a position he held till he was elected into the Senate in 2011.
He was conferred with Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) in 2004 by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. He also won the Golden Merit Award in Space Science from the World Federation of Science Journalists in March 2011. He was the chairman of Senate Committee on Science and Technology.
Aside his personal qualities, there is an outcry from the people of Ondo State that they have always been marginalised by other parts of the South West, especially Lagos and Ogun States in terms of representation at federal level.
Some political analysts have observed that office of Deputy Senate President is an opportunity to redress that issue, not only because the state was one of the major contributors to the national economy during regional government, but also as one of the nine Niger Delta States.
According to them, the position is suitable for Boroffice as a staunch party leader, who worked hard for the party’s success, despite the internal wrangling that threatened his third term ambition.
Even during the last Presidential and National Assembly poll, in which APC performed woefully in least expected places, he won all the polls in his domain for APC candidates.
Since his sojourn in the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), now APC from December 2011, he has aligned himself with the party’s national leader, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, though his governorship aspirations were truncated twice by Bourdillon in 2012 and 2016.
Dangling a bait to whittle down the Bourdillon influence, the Senate leadership in 2015 offered Boroffice the position of Chief Whip, but he
declined, due to his unalloyed support for Tinubu and the party leadership.
It was gathered from reliable sources that the principal officer’s slot may be a payback time for Ondo State and the senator, and that the party’s national leader, Tinubu will no doubt play a critical role in the election of principal officers.
Other observers noted that Tinubu’s presidential ambition in 2023 might be a factor that would work in favour of Boroffice, as the former could sacrifice his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu to retain the loyalty of a worthy supporter like Boroffice, as well as possibly forestall the accusation of making elections a family affair.
The Ondo State governorship election is another factor that may make Tinubu finally settle for Boroffice to enable him manoeuvre a replacement from the Southern district without grudges of the incumbent governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, who was reportedly queried for anti-party activities.
Considering the rivalry and supremacy battle between Akeredolu and Bourdillon, as revealed by some APC members, who are nursing grudges against the state chapter of the party, Tinubu may attempt to spite the governor by pushing for Boroffice’s emergence in the principal office.
However, the race for the DSP might strain the cordial relationship between Oluremi Tinubu and Boroffice, who enjoyed his colleague’s unflinching support in the past.
Now that the National Assembly seats have been won and lost, there is frantic politicking across the geo-political zones, as Senator-elects scramble for principal offices in the 9th Assembly.
The permutations put the South West at a vantage point, should the Deputy Senate be zoned to the region, with three major contending states— Ondo, Oyo and Lagos.
As a rule, the offices of the Senate President and Deputy Senate President are exclusively for ranking senators, which have the likes of Prof. Ajayi Boroffice (Ondo North), Senator Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central) and Teslim Folarin (Oyo Central) as qualified candidates.
The three are ranking senators re-elected to the Senate for the third time on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). From all indications, the three gladiators are slugging it out among themselves.
Presently, there are 106 seats declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), with 64 for APC and 41 for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while the Young Progressive Party (YPP) has a seat. The result of three seats —Plateau, Taraba and Imo States are yet to be announced.
Having a majority of senators-elect, APC has warned its members to be cautious in how they handle the issue of who occupies principal offices. The party leadership said it would intervene to prevent the palace coup and betrayal that characterised the Eighth Assembly.
With a National Assembly that has 43 returnees and over 15 former governors, the onus of leadership must rest on persons with the mien, charisma and intellect of no mean repute to lead the Assembly.
The only qualified candidate from Ondo State, Senator Boroffice, hails from Oka-Akoko, Akoko Southwest Council. He is a Professor of Zoology, with rich dossier in public service as the founding Director General of National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), a position he held till he was elected into the Senate in 2011.
He was conferred with Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) in 2004 by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. He also won the Golden Merit Award in Space Science from the World Federation of Science Journalists in March 2011. He was the chairman of Senate Committee on Science and Technology.
Aside his personal qualities, there is an outcry from the people of Ondo State that they have always been marginalised by other parts of the South West, especially Lagos and Ogun States in terms of representation at federal level.
Some political analysts have observed that office of Deputy Senate President is an opportunity to redress that issue, not only because the state was one of the major contributors to the national economy during regional government, but also as one of the nine Niger Delta States.
According to them, the position is suitable for Boroffice as a staunch party leader, who worked hard for the party’s success, despite the internal wrangling that threatened his third term ambition.
Even during the last Presidential and National Assembly poll, in which APC performed woefully in least expected places, he won all the polls in his domain for APC candidates.
Since his sojourn in the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), now APC from December 2011, he has aligned himself with the party’s national leader, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, though his governorship aspirations were truncated twice by Bourdillon in 2012 and 2016.
Dangling a bait to whittle down the Bourdillon influence, the Senate leadership in 2015 offered Boroffice the position of Chief Whip, but he
declined, due to his unalloyed support for Tinubu and the party leadership.
It was gathered from reliable sources that the principal officer’s slot may be a payback time for Ondo State and the senator, and that the party’s national leader, Tinubu will no doubt play a critical role in the election of principal officers.
Other observers noted that Tinubu’s presidential ambition in 2023 might be a factor that would work in favour of Boroffice, as the former could sacrifice his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu to retain the loyalty of a worthy supporter like Boroffice, as well as possibly forestall the accusation of making elections a family affair.
The Ondo State governorship election is another factor that may make Tinubu finally settle for Boroffice to enable him manoeuvre a replacement from the Southern district without grudges of the incumbent governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, who was reportedly queried for anti-party activities.
Considering the rivalry and supremacy battle between Akeredolu and Bourdillon, as revealed by some APC members, who are nursing grudges against the state chapter of the party, Tinubu may attempt to spite the governor by pushing for Boroffice’s emergence in the principal office.
However, the race for the DSP might strain the cordial relationship between Oluremi Tinubu and Boroffice, who enjoyed his colleague’s unflinching support in the past.
Comments
Post a Comment