the standing committees of the upper legislative chamber.

Senate President Bukola Saraki on Wednesday constituted the standing committees of the upper legislative chamber. Surprisingly, he assigned some of the Grade A committees (believed to be “juicy”) to his perceived “opponents” such as Ahmed Lawan, who chairs the senate committee on defence, and George Akume, who chairs the committee on army. He also let the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) retain control of the media and publicity unit of the senate by assigning the committee on publicity to Eyinnaya Abaribe, spokesman of the seventh senate. Abaribe, who is a PDP senator from Abia south, officially takes over from Dino Melaye, who had been acting as the spokesman of the senate. The committees, as announced by Saraki, showed that agriculture is chaired by Abdullahi Adamu (APC), army by George Akume (APC), anti corruption by Utazi Godfrey (PDP), appropriation by Danjuma Goje (APC), aviation by Hope Uzodinma (PDP), capital market by Isiaka Adeleke, and culture and tourism by Urhoghide Matthew (PDP). The Grade A committees are special owing to their power of oversight over strategic institutions of government and because of the monetary allocations attached to them. Lawan and Akume had squared off against Saraki over the leadership of the senate. The APC endorsed the two senators as its candidate for the positions of senate president and deputy senate president, respectively, of the eighth senate. But Saraki, against the wish of his party, went ahead to stand for the position of senate president, and emerged winner unchallenged on June 9. Following the development, APC senators loyal to Lawan formed an opposing block against Saraki at the senate. One of such senators is Kabiru Marafa (Zamfara central), who was also given a committee to chair. On different occasions, Marafa had challenged the legitimacy of the senate leadership, and at some point disrupted the sitting of the senate over an endorsement of Saraki by 81 senators. This may be a form of rapprochement on the part of Saraki to win the loyalty of all APC senators.