Speakership: Who will laugh last in APC?

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With the discordant tunes trailing the endorsement of candidates for the post of the president of the Senate and Speaker, House of Representatives, it might be another night of long knife in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), writes KUNLE ODEREMI.

About eight years ago, the All Progressives Congress (APC) was in dilemma over the choice of the leadership of the National Assembly. The centre could no longer hold for the coalition that worked for APC to produce a political upset after it dethroned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the centre. A whiff of international contradictions deprived the party of taking advantage of having majority in the National Assembly and controlling the executive arm of government. Its preferred and endorsed candidate for the post of president of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives were asphyxiated by superior political intrigues. Is the party back to the same path as the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly beckons?

While the president-elect, Senator Bola Tinubu stepped out of the country to cool off after the general election, some close quarters in the All Progressives Congress (APC) said he already had a direction on where to go in the scramble for the positions of president of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives. So, some of close allies threw up some dummies, including the possibility of a former national chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole succeeding Senator Ahmad Lawan as the president of the Senate in the 10th National Assembly. The once number one citizen in the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and ex-governor of Edo State is regarded as an alter ego of the president-elect. But the fact was that Oshiomhole posed a major obstacle in the plot. So, those behind it decided to mute the idea of how members of the outgoing National Assembly could tinker with the Standing Rules that confer eligibility only ranking lawmakers for the office of the president of the Senate or House Speaker. The plot was rested following wise counsel by some members of the clique behind the push to avert the likely backlash. However, under the plan, another senator-elect, Aliyu Wamakko, who is a former governor of Sokoto State, was being considered as deputy president of the Senate.

Apparently, the major power blocs in APC had envisaged the intense intrigues and power struggle over the choice of candidates for the two strategic positions in both chambers of the National Assembly. According to a top notch in the party, the leadership and the camp of the president-elect believed there would be issues surrounding the adoption of a candidate among the 10 formidable party stalwarts that indicated interest in the position of president of the Senate. However, they were confident that the problem could be easily resolved given the calibre and pedigree of the aspirants, coupled with the fact that there are just 109 senators-elect. Therefore, it was envisaged that the situation as regards the House would require much tact, diplomacy and candour, given the large number of members-elect. With diverse political interests, affiliations and variegated dispositions, an APC think-tank comprising members of the rested presidential campaign council, past National Assembly members, especially the House, foresaw stiff resistance to whatever option the APC leadership in collaboration with the president-elect might adopt on the candidate for the office of speaker. They acknowledged the role money for logistics might play in the battle for the position, with the assumption that the contenders and their backers could boast of possessing the necessary war chest. The observers, particularly former members of the House also identified the reconfiguration in terms of members-elect for the 10th Assembly as capable of making the bid by APC to have its way this time more nerve-cracking.

Main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Young Peoples Party (YPP) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) now have more members-elect than the APC in the House. The change has become a veritable source of strength for the opposition party caucus as aggrieved APC aspirants for the post of speaker are poised for war following the endorsement of Honourable Tajudeen Abbas for the post. The two tendencies are on the verge of ganging up against the APC choice for a historic contest in June when the National Assembly will be inaugurated. A collation called: The Joint Task-10th Assembly, for example, declared that it was out to “defend the sanctity of the parliament, promote independence of the legislature, ensure fairness, equity and balance in the emergence of the leadership of the House. Led by Honourable Bello Kumo (APC, Gombe) and co-chairman, Honourable Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers), the coalition also consists of other parties: NNPP, APGA, ADC and YPP. Chairman of the House committee on Niger Delta Development commission (NDDC), Honourable Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo; Chairman, House Services Committee, Honourable Wale Raji; Chairman,House Committee on Defence, Honourable Babajimi Benson; Honourable Lawan Shettima, Honourable Bello Kaoje, Honourable Isiaka Ibrahim, Honourable Unyime Idem, Honourable Nnaji Nnoli and Honourable Akeen Alabi, among others.

No going back

Some aspirants are stepping up their campaign despite the endorsement of Abbas by the APC leadership for speaker, holding series of meetings to harmonise their positions. One of such meetings was attended by the current deputy Speaker, Honourable Idris Wase (APC-Plateau); Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Honourable Muktar Betara Aliyu; Honourable Ahmed Jaji (APC-Zamfara) and Sada Soli (APC-Katsina). The meeting coincided with the outcry by the Forum of former members of the House (North Central Caucus) and APC stakeholders over perceived marginalisation of the North-Central in the zoning arrangement of the four key positions in the 10th National Assembly. Honourable Idris Yahuza Yakubu, a member of the 4th Assembly (1999-2003), who spoke on behalf of the forum, described the development as “an odious stench of bias and lopsidedness that should not even be contemplated in a democracy. We find it unimaginable that anybody would even mute the idea of handing over two key positions in the National Assembly hierarchy to one zone, given much the president-elect had invested to convince Nigerians that he will be fair to all.

“Perhaps it will be well at this point to remind the president-elect that the North-Central gave him the highest percentage of votes in the last presidential elections over and above all the zones in the country except the South-West where he comes from. A quick check of the overall percentage of the votes polled by each zone in the last presidential elections would reveal that while the North-central gave the APC presidential ticket 41 percent of its total votes, the North-west came third with the 39 percent it gave the president-elect. Worse still, out of seven states, the APC presidential candidate won only in three states of the North-west losing significant numbers in swing states like Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi and Katsina while in the North-Central, he won overwhelmingly in its swing states of Niger, Benue and Kogi.

“Most worrisome is the fact that it is Kaduna State, where the APC performed woefully by losing the three Senate seats and 11 of the 16 House of Representatives seats that is being considered for the speaker position. We know that the president-elect having fought for the return of democracy to Nigeria and had served as a Senator and State Governor is a thorough Democrat, hence it behooves on him to take steps that will preserve and deepen our democracy by ensuring inclusiveness in his administration.

“Having won the 2023 presidential elections fair and square, we had expected the leadership of APC to be guided by the principle of justice and fairness in zoning leadership positions in the parliament and had thought that factors like commitment to the success of the party, level of contributions and the need for fairness, Equity and justice to all would guide the decision. What we have seen emerging from the decision of the APC however, is a situation of total disregard to justice, equity and fairness where personal interests has been put forward thereby bringing chaos and conflict in a situation that would have otherwise gone smoothly if national interest has been the guiding principle.

When he returned from his trip abroad, Tinubu echoed the significance of consultations, especially in addressing sensitive political issues. It was in that spirit that he promised to sustain the consultations and discussions he held with some stakeholders during his trip now that he is at home. But, some aggrieved aspirants claimed they were left out by the party and the president-elect on the zoning formula said adopted on the choice of candidates for the post president of the senate and House Speaker. At a time, a miffed Muktar Betara alleged that the outgoing Speaker, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila was involved in a plot to impose a candidate on the aspirants. “I was surprised that my friend and boss (Gbajabiamila) nominated one person outside of all of us here. If today, the deputy Speaker is contesting, the chairman of the Appropriation Committee is contesting; the Majority Leader is contesting, then who is closer to the Speaker? So, nobody! He is picking somebody that members of the 9th Assembly don’t know. A lot of us don’t know him,” Betara claimed. However, the Speaker said there was no iota of truth in the claim that he had a favoured candidate. He later organized a meeting with the aspirants to set the record straight on the rumours that he was to say, the least, neutral on the matter of who becomes APC candidate among the members-elect for the post of speaker. Meanwhile, plots by the opposition party caucus had gathered momentum with the aim of cashing in on the gulf in the ruling party over the contest. Their contention is that they are not bound by whatever zoning formula the APC might adopt for the contest. A lawmaker involved in one of the meetings, Peter Akpanke declared that, “Those of us in the National Assembly want to support a speaker who will defend democracy; someone who will protect the interests of members and help us deliver the dividends of democracy.”

According to most of the aspirants, they have laid their hands on the plough and there is no going back. Honourable Yusuf Gagdi, for instance, is calling on the president-elect to remember the circumstances that surrounded his emergence as candidate of APC for the February 25 poll, and the intrigues that preceded the presidential convention to ensure fairness and equity. He urged Tinubu and other influencers in the party to allow a free contest in determining the popular choice of speaker.

Similarly, Aliyu Batara says his eyes remain on the ball as far as the position of speaker is concerned in spite of the speculated pressure from certain quarters on him to back down following the endorsement of Abbas by the party leadership. His stand is that he is the most experienced and prepared to lead the House in the next dispensation.

Besides the assumptions in some circles that a speaker could emerge by default going by the rash of protest, rejection and opposition to the choice of the ‘establishment’ in the APC, talks between the aggrieved aspirants and the opposition parties, minority caucus could swing the votes at the most auspicious time. For APC, it appears to be another season of long knives with the gladiators enmeshed in a fit of anger and near subterfuge.

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