The desired objective was not achieved on Monday, June 22, when the leaders of the All Progressives Congress, tried to mend fences between its two rival groups in the Senate.

On one hand are the Like Minds- Senators loyal to Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and on the other hand are Senate Unity Forum- the lawmakers behind Ahmed Lawan, the preferred candidate of the APC for the position.

The party’s Senators have been divided, since the election of Saraki as Senate President, with the supporters of Lawan, insisting that their man was deserving of the position.

A meeting was held at the private residence of APC Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, in Asokoro, Abuja, to resolve the crisis that has engulfed the party in recent time.

Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, as well as other APC lawmakers, attended the meeting.

The Press was not allowed to cover proceedings at the meeting, however, it was learnt that neither Saraki nor Lawan agreed to shift ground, especially in the bid to elect the remaining four principal officers in the Senate.

Lawan’s group, supported by some APC leaders insisted that the party should choose the occupants of the positions, however, the Saraki group maintained that the principal officers must be produced by the various zonal caucuses in the Senate.

While Lawan was said to have argued that members of his group would be disenfranchised if the caucuses should determine the fate of the four officers, Saraki, reportedly said he could not afford to have his rival in such a sensitive position as Senate Leader.

As a result of the impasse, the meeting was abruptly adjourned as there seemed to be no hope at reaching an accord.

Meanwhile, Saraki is believed to have instructed the various caucuses to meet at 11pm on Monday to pick their representatives to fill the four remaining principal officers’ positions.

Punch quoted a source as saying that: “The senate president has asked the various caucuses to agree on their candidates before 12 midnight and submit the list which he had said would be announced during plenary tomorrow (Tuesday).”

Saraki and Dogara are expected to announce on Tuesday, June 23, the lawmakers for the leadership positions during plenary.