Political bigwigs and ranking senators have now shifted their attention to the election of principal officers with the election of the Senate President and deputy over.
The office of the majority leader is attracting more interest among the lawmakers.
Lawmakers reportedly eyeing the Majority Leader position include former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia North), Osita Isunazo (Imo West), Dave Umahi (Ebonyi South), Ali Ndume (Borno South) and Opeyemi Bamidele (Ekiti Central).
The Senate President and Deputy Senate President are the only positions senior to the Majority Leader in ranking in the Upper Legislative chambers.
Many political stakeholders believe the position should go South East after the zone was overlooked by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the zoning arrangement for the senate president and the deputy.
Though the party has not officially made its stance known on the election of a majority leader, Daily Sun reports that the South East caucus has held several meetings on strategies to ensure one of them is elected majority leader and are lobbying other relevant stakeholders within the party hierarchy.
A source who is part of the negotiations said that this past week, the South East caucus had held a few meetings and are united in their quest to ensure that the zone gets the majority leader position.
The source said: “We are reaching out to stakeholders to push for this. It is only fair that the position is micro-zoned to the South East to give them a sense of belonging. We are backing Kalu for the office. Umahi is not a ranking member, so it would be difficult to make a case for him. At the end of the day, it may be down to Kalu and Isunaso.
“Those making a case for Kalu are reminded that besides the fact that he is a ranking member, he was the Chief Whip in the ninth assembly and performed very well. In 2019, he dropped his ambition to contest for the deputy Senate President of the ninth Senate after the APC announced its support for Ovie Omo-Agege (Delta Central). He not only stepped down, citing party loyalty, he endorsed Omo-Agege, saying that he would always abide by the decision of the party. He was later to emerge the Chief Whip. This shows that he is a loyal party man.”