Who belongs where?

There are 109 seats in the Senate. This figure has not changed. But who belongs where keeps changing. Such is the perpetual motion that there is uncertainty about the majority party and the minority party in the upper chamber of the National Assembly.

The argument between Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Senate Leader Ahmad Lawan of the All Progressives Congress (APC) about the numerical strength of their parties in the Senate is curious.

Since the position of Senate Leader is supposed to be held by a member of the majority party, and Lawan holds the position, it should mean that his party is the majority party in the Senate.

It is puzzling that numerical strength became an issue.  But it is also enlightening. A report captured the argument between Ekweremadu and Lawan on December 13.  Lawan said: “The media reported that APC has 57 senators while PDP has 58. For the record, APC senators are 56 while PDP senators are 46.”

Ekweremadu’s response: “As regards the party configuration, I want to say there is no particular statistics for now. We cannot talk about the figures that each political party has because there is no such statistics. So, let it be on record that we have no such record now.”

The Deputy Senate President’s assertion is absurd. If there are no official figures that can clarify the numerical strength of the parties in the Senate, it is a confirmation of confusion.

When 14 APC senators defected to PDP in July, a report said: “With the defection, the number of PDP senators rose from 42 to 56, thereby making it the majority party in the upper chamber of the National Assembly.” The report continued: “Soon after the defection, PDP senators embraced one another, rejoicing that they now form the majority in the red chamber…After the drama that unfolded at the hallowed chamber, the Senate caucus of the APC said that, in spite of the dumping of the party by 14 of its members for the PDP, it was still the majority party in the upper chamber.”

The public should be clear about where their elected representatives belong, and which party is the majority party in the Senate. But clearly, the situation is not so clear. The argument about the numerical strength of the parties in the red chamber shows that it is upside down.