Senator representing Niger East Senatorial district, David Umaru has declared that the positions of Senator Bukola Saraki as Senate President and Yakubu Dogara as Speaker of the House of Representatives are “not negotiable.”
Umaru dismissed claims that the Like Minds, the group of senators loyal to the Senate President, traded away the position of Deputy Senate President to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
“We were lucky that the PDP members in the chamber that day were reasonable during the election. The existing laws are very clear: Senators and members of the House of Representative members are the ones that should elect their leaders.
“There is a very good reason for this and that is because the lawmakers are the ones to work with their leaders. The issue of the election of Dr. Saraki as Senate President and Yakubu Dogora as Speaker is not negotiable. It cannot be negotiated outside the National Assembly,” Umar stressed.
