By Clifford Ndujihe

THE Ninth National Assembly will be inaugurated in exactly two months time but the tussle and jostle for the various positions in both chambers, especially the principal offices, are going on at a dizzying pace.

National Assembly

While the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, appears to foot-drag on zoning the various offices, having emerged as the majority party, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, seems to be waiting for a slip to make a kill from any commission or omission that could re-enact what happened in 2015 when the APC leadership’s preferred candidates did not win the Senate Presidency and House of Representatives speakership. Some of the aspirants have vowed to contest for the senate presidency and speakership regardless of the zoning arrangement of the APC leadership.

Currently, no fewer than 17 members-elect are angling to become the next speaker just as Senator Ali Ndume is kicking against the party’s decision to endorse Senator Ahmad Lawan as Senate President.

Early in the week, Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara said the independence of the legislature was non-negotiable adding that the lawmakers would choose their leaders, themselves, at the appropriate time. Below are the plans of some of the aspirants for the speakership position, and PDP’s moves to get the upper hand in the National Assembly among other issues dotting permutations and posturing for the leadership of the Ninth federal legislature.