As the race for the presidency of the ninth Senate intensifies, the Senator Ahmad Lawan for ninth Senate President Group has resolved to meet with two other ranking senators, Ali Ndume and Danjuma Goje, over the need for them to work together.

The plan, according to THISDAY sources in the group, is to checkmate moves by the opposing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to determine the leadership of the Senate that is billed for inauguration in June.

The PDP with 43 senators, according to THISDAY sources, plans to vote en bloc and is using its strategic number to negotiate with Goje and Ndume.

Apart from bidding for Deputy Senate President, the main opposition party is also negotiating for the chairmanship of strategic committees of the Senate.

With a division in the ranks of the All Progressives Congress (APC) senators-elect, the coast appears clear for the PDP to have its way with its 43 seats in the upper legislative chamber.

To prevent this eventuality, the camp of the official candidate of the APC, Lawan, is making intensive efforts to achieve consensus, necessitating conversations with Goje and Ndume.

Ndume, former Senate leader, who chairs the Senate Committee on Establishment, had last month made public his intention to vie for Senate president when the ninth National Assembly is inaugurated inbJune, while Goje, who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee onnAppropriation, has not made public his intention but is discreetlynworking towards realising his ambition.

Sources close to Lawan, who is the Senate leader, with 20 years federal legislative experience, told Thisday yesterday that arrangements were afoot for Lawan to meet with his two rivals over the Senate presidency of the ninth National Assembly.

One of the sources, who is an APC senator-elect from the North-west, stated that with the completion of the one on one consultation with all senators-elect across party divides, the Lawan for Senate President Group believed it was high time their principal met with the other two gladiators.

He said Lawan, who had met personally with all senators-elect from all the six geo-political zones in the last one month to seek their individual support and why he remains the best candidate for the job, alsobthought it necessary to engage the other contestants.

“So on our part, we have agreed that Senator Lawan should meet with both Ndume and Goje and tell them about his mission and vision for the ninth Senate and by extension seek their support for the major task ahead,” the lawmaker said.