North-Central battles South-West for ninth House of Reps speakership

Members-elect of the ninth House of Representatives have embarked on some jostling for the position of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House ahead of the announcement of zoning formula by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the inauguration of the Assembly in June. Group Politics Editor, TAIWO ADISA, captures the argument put forward by members from the North-Central zone, seeking a look-in for the post of Speaker, House of Representatives.

 

ON March 18, 2019, at a dinner hosted at the Presidential Villa, Abuja in respect of newly-elected senators of the ninth Senate, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, thought he had settled all matters relating to the election of the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the incoming Assembly.

Oshiomhole, without preambles, announced to the gathering of senators-elect, which also included President Muhammadu Buhari that the ruling party had settled for the duo of Senator Ahmad Lawan and Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila as President and Speaker of the Senate and the House of Representatives, respectively.

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Feelers from among lawmakers-elect on the platform of the party in the aftermath of that announcement had been varied and diluted. While some members are working in line with the chairman’s announcement, others have taken their fate in their hands and decided to push forward, with or without the key announcement.

In line with Oshiomhole’s endorsement, Majority Leader of the outgoing eighth House of Representatives, Honourable Gbajabiamila, in what has been described as a media show, announced his ambition to lead the House, on Sunday. He was joined by a number of serving members and principal officers of the outgoing chamber as well.

But that did not deter some other members from equally joining the race. Others who have joined the contest so far include the spokesman of the current House, Honourable Abdulrazak Namdas (APC, Adamawa, North-East); Honourable Mukhtar Aliyu Betara (APC, Borno, North-East); Honourable Idris Wase (APC, Plateau, North-Central); Honourable Umar Bago (APC, Niger, North-Central); Nkeiruka Onyejeocha (APC, Abia, South-East); John Okafor (APC, Imo, South-East); Babangida Ibrahim (APC, Katsina, North-West); and Mohammed Kazaure (APC, Jigawa, North-West).

Besides the aspirants for the speakership position, some other contestants have also emerged in the race for position of the deputy speaker. They include the current Chief Whip of the House, Honourable Alhassan Ado Doguwa (APC, Kano, North-West) and Honourable Da’u Aliyu Magaji (APC, Jigawa, North-West).

Of the long list of aspirants, which in a sense also included Honourable Ndudi Elumelu, (PDP, Delta, South-South), the sound bites from the North-Central have appeared commanding thus far. While aspirants from the other zones have been much of solo runs, the North-Central had come together to address what they called issues of marginalisation of the zone.

At a press briefing in Abuja, lawmakers from the zone made a strong case for a candidate of the area to be considered for the post of Speaker. Honourable John Dyegh, who addressed the press on behalf of the North-Central Caucus of the House of Representatives said, the zone was ripe for the coveted seat, having been unable to produce an occupant of the seat in the 20 years of the Fourth Republic.

The honourable member said at the media briefing: “Gentlemen of the Press, you are not unaware of the interest the issue of the leadership of the next Assembly has generated in the public space. We want to use this medium to acknowledge the supremacy of our party, the APC, in addressing the issue of zoning of positions in an equitable, just and fair manner that will foster unity and cordial relations among members of our party and our colleagues from the other political divides. We are confident of the ability and capacity of the national leadership of the APC to do right to all in order to advance national cohesion, balance of power and federal character.

“It is in this regard that we humbly wish to appeal to our great party, the APC, to strongly consider the North-Central geopolitical zone for the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives in the ninth Assembly. Our position is based on the following reasons:

“Zoning the position of Speaker to the North Central will satisfy and advance the cause of equity since the North-West and South-West already have the presidency and vice presidency, respectively. We note that apart from the North-West and North-East, the North-Central zone delivered handsomely for the party in the general election and as such needs to be rewarded for the hard work and loyalty.

“The need to ensure balance and spread between and among the six geo-political zones has made it imperative to give prime consideration to the North-Central zone to produce the position of Speaker. Being the zone with delicate and peculiar location and challenges within the federation, it is of utmost importance to carry us along in the hierarchy of power distribution in the country as this will in no small measure, help in stabilising the polity.

“It is not by coincidence that the Nigerian Constitution enshrines federal character in the distribution of offices and leadership positions in the country. Section 14 (4) of the ground norm speaks eloquently to this fact. The North-Central geopolitical zone would feel a sense of belonging if it is allowed to produce the Speaker in the next Assembly.

“While we believe the reasons advanced above are very cogent and persuasive enough, we reiterate that our call for the North-Central to produce the next Speaker of the House of Representatives is an appeal to the sense of justice, fairness and equity of our great party. We are mindful of the fact that events that surrounded the emergence of leaders of previous assemblies can provide amble guide for our great party to avoid past pitfalls and engender harmony, peace and stability in the House of Representatives as partners in progress with the executive.”

The zone is basing its quest to challenge the South-West for the nation’s number four position on the strength of highlighted issues, including the fact that the North-Central has never produced Speaker since return to democracy in 1999. The North-Central gave the third highest votes to the APC in the general election; North-Central should get the Speaker slot since the party has zoned Senate President to North-East; South-West already has the vice president and many other appointments in government and so should not be further given the speakership; the North-Central plays the balancing act in Nigerian politics and should not be denied the Speaker since the Senate presidency has been given to North-East.

Outside the press briefing, two aspirants have emerged from the North-Central, in what looks as a big challenge to South West’s Gbajabiamila, who has also secured Oshiomhole’s nod.

During the week, the chairman, House Committee on Federal Character, Honourable Idris Wase and chairman, House Committee on Maritime Safety and Education, Honourable Mohammed Umaru Bago, announced their candidature for the post of Speaker of the House of Representatives, in a determined bid to challenge Gbajabiamila who had earlier declared in his intention for same position at an event shown live on television, the first time a candidate for that position would be doing so.

Gbajabiamila, while speaking at the formal declaration, had said: “I seek this office with a rich legislative background and pedigree, having just won a historic fifth term mandate to the House.

“It is this wealth of experience and a burning desire for good governance that I bring to the table, to take the legislature to the next level. I seek the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives to bring us together and unite us as a country.”

Gbajabiamila’s campaign has already been joined by some long-standing members of the House, who could be described as masters of House politics. There was the House Chief Whip, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, who would be sworn-in for a fourth term in June, but had been elected into the House in the Third Republic. There was also Honourable Mohammed Monguno, earlier noted as a contender for the office of Speaker and another contender, Honourable Khadija Ibrahim.

But his challengers from the North Central are not taking matters lie low. Honourable Wase, who would be sworn-in for a fourth term in June, said he was hinging his contest on the need for equity. He was first elected into House in 2007 to represent Wase Federal Constituency of Plateau State on the ticket of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and has remained in the lower chamber of the National Assembly ever since.

As Chairman of House Committee on Federal Character, Wase claimed to have spent much of his time in the House “advocating real solutions that are capable of expanding opportunity for all Nigerians,” as well as fighting “consistently to bridge the disparity and imbalances between various states and regions in terms of employment and infrastructural distribution to bring them in line with the constitutional requirement of federal character.”

A flyer released in aid of Wase’s campaign indicated that he has since his entry into the House of Representatives demonstrated his penchant for good governance and quality representation with positive impacts in areas such as education, poverty alleviation, health, youth empowerment, infrastructural development and scholarships.

“His eight years at the helm of the committee (during which time he was known as the go-to-man for employment opportunities for members and Staff of the National Assembly) has endeared him to lots of members and even staff of the Assembly whom he was able to assist with employment opportunities for their constituents. His committee became the most active committee in the seventh and eighth assemblies, recording an unprecedented number of interactive meetings with Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) exceeding 150 sessions per Assembly,” the document read. He was also listed to have moved 15 motions on the floor of the House of Representatives and has eight bills to his credit.

Wase’s compatriot from the region, Bago, also said that he was joining the race this time to correct an alleged injustice the North-Central zone has suffered in the country’s balance of power. He lamented that the zone has never produced either the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker since the return of democratic rule in 1999.

To further brighten the chances of the North-Central, campaigners from the zone have compiled what they believed were the ‘undue’ advantages already enjoyed by the South-West.

According to a document made public by campaigners from the North-Central, documents from the presidency indicate that “appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari since his assumption of office in 2015 has shown that the South-West has received more appointments than any other part of the country. From analysis and statements released by the presidency.”

Marketing himself and the zone further, Bago said: “As such, we deserve the position, not only as a state but also as a zone. So nobody can say he wants to expel us from this party. And no one will singlehandedly take over the structure of the legislature as well as the party.

“Apart from the zoning argument, if you say the South must get something, why insist on South-West, why not South-South or the South-East?

“But then, in terms of representation in the party and government, the South-South has the chairmanship of the party and the South-West has the vice president. What does the North-Central have? Nothing. So, in the interest of equity, justice and fair play, the party should allow the North-Central to have the slot in the dispensation.”

He cited Section 14 (1;1C;3 and 4) of the of the 1999 Constitution as amended as providing the strength for the push by the North-Central, even as he added that the scenario so far has seen the North-West, South-West, South-East and North-East produced five different speakers between them.

He added: “The South-South, North-East, South-East and South-West have also produced 5 deputy speakers among themselves since 1999. What does the North-Central has in the entire equation; and they want us to keep mute? Who is speaking for the zone that has never been recognised for keeping faith with the party?

“Despite all the crisis and challenges bedeviling the zone under the APC administration, we stayed the course for the party and the president, delivering more than 70 per cent of votes cast.”

Campaigners from the North-Central have further packed a literature which contained a long list of advantages they believed that the South-West had earned in the administration of president Buhari thus far, which they believe should warrant the zone dropping out of the race for the Speaker of the ninth House of Representatives.

The document quoted a report which gave the number of appointments made to every geopolitical zone by Buhari since inception of his administration as including: North-East 24; North-West 32; North-Central 19; South East 22; South-West 40 and South-South 20.

The document further read: “From the figures above, South-West has benefitted the most from the appointments of President Buhari within the last four years of this current administration. In total, the South-West constituted 40 appointments of the 157 appointments made by the president since 2015. This make up 25 per ecent of the appointments made.

“Some major appointments held by the South-West include the Chief of Defence Staff, chairman of FIRS, chairman of NCC, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, SA (Media and Publicity, Political, Economy), SSA (Diaspora, Trade and Investments), MD (BOI, NAN, NAMA, REA, etc.), DG (NISER, NSITF, NIPC, NBS, NTDC, etc.) and chairman of NSIA among others. The South-West is the only geopolitical zone in the country with such high number of appointees. This number of appointments allotted to the South-West is an indication of the benevolence which the Buhari Administration has shown towards the geopolitical zone.

“The North entirely, despite having lesser number of appointees than the South, has no geopolitical zone with such large number of appointees. This is despite the large number of vote from the geopolitical zones in the North. The South-East where Mr President got the fewest votes even has more appointees than the North-Central geopolitical zone.

“In terms of infrastructural development, the South-West has a lot of massive projects that are people-oriented. From roads infrastructure to rail transport system and the aviation sector, there are projects ongoing (with some near completion) in the South-West.

But South-West campaigners could raise issues of precedence to boost their campaign. They could point to the 2011 scenario where Aminu Waziri Tambuwal emerged as Speaker, despite the North-West having produced Vice President Namadi Sambo…”

Whichever way the arguments pan, the stage appears to have been set for a titanic battle for the post of Speaker of the House of Representatives this time and the war zone is already demarcated between the South-West and the North-Central.