The ruling All Progressives
Congress (APC) is walking on a tightrope in the House of Representatives as
lawmakers plot to truncate the zoning arrangement proposed by President-elect
Bola Tinubu and adopted by the party’s leadership.
In a shock move, the National
Working Committee on Monday adopted Tajudeen Abbas, a member of the House from
Kaduna State, as a consensus candidate, while Ben Kalu, a lawmaker from Abia
State was picked as deputy speaker.
Later in the evening, in a
surprise move, all the major aspirants— Deputy Speaker Idris Wase, Ado Doguwa,
Yusuf Gagdi, Sada Soli, Ahmed Jaji and Miriam Onuoha appeared at the
declaration of Muktar Betara and openly rejected Abbas as the consensus
candidate.
“We will defeat those forces that
think Nigeria is in their pocket,” Deputy Speaker Wase said while addressing
the crowd. He also disclosed that five of the aspirants already joined forces
against the establishment.
Some other aspirants like Soli,
Doguwa and Jaji also spoke, while expressing readiness to challenge and defeat
the anointed candidate.
“APC does not have the number to
tell lawmakers to go to hell. The entire majority is small, compared to the
last assembly when APC had over 200,” a lawmaker in the camp of one of the
aspirants said during a meeting on Sunday.
A check of the list of
member-elect shows that the ruling party indeed has a lesser number compared to
the aggregation of all minority parties. The APC has 177, while the opposition
parties have 181.
The current situation bears
similarities with the 8th Assembly where Yakubu Dogara and Yusuf Lasun teamed
up with the opposition in 2015, and won against the anointed candidate, Femi
Gbajabiamila and Mohammed Monguno.
This paper learnt that the
majority of the lawmakers from the Northeast are backing Betara, while
Abdulmummin Jibrin has been mobilizing opposition lawmakers, including members
of the NNPP, Labour Party and PDP.
The minority group seems divided
between Abbas’ team and Betara. The caucus formed by some lawmakers loyal to
Gbajabiamila have been campaigning for Abbas, while Betara controls the
“greater majority” group.
There are indications that some
of the aspirants may drop when negotiation commences.
The APC NWC had warned Mr Tinubu
to ensure that they increase consultation.
“The NWC called for further and
better consultation with necessary stakeholders in order to assure the support
of the aspirants to the National Assembly leadership positions and members of
the Party nationwide,” it reads.
Opposition joins race
While the ruling party grapples
with an internal crisis, the opposition party are plotting to take the seat.
Dachung Bagos, one of the
spokespersons for the opposition parties, said the minority group has concluded
plans to have one of its own to become the Speaker.
“We have already agreed to
contest for the presiding offices,” he said.
The parties may struggle to get
the entire minority lawmakers to unite, as several of them are already playing
leading roles in the campaign of APC members.
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