10th House of Reps: Speakership contest and zoning conundrum

From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

The battle line is drawn in the House of Representatives. The bone of contention is the speakership of the House in the tenth assembly. Last week, the All Progressives Congress ( APC) endorsed the chairman, House Committee on Land Transport, Tajudeen Abass and chairman, House Committee on Media and Publicity, Benjamin Kalu as its preferred candidates for the positions of speaker and deputy speaker respectively. Since then, neither the APC nor its  anointed candidates has known peace.

In the aftermath of general elections, the dominant issue in the House has been  how the speaker will emerge and which zone will produce the leader of the Green chamber. The zoning debate, which has been  generating controversy, within and outside the parliament, with stakeholders expressing diverse views  has kept the House on the edge.

Incidentally, almost all the aspirants for the position have made a case for the position to be zoned to their geo-political zone in the sake of “equity and fair play”. For instance, those from the North Central, argue that it is the turn of the zone to produce the speaker of the 10th assembly, because of their support for the All Progressives Congress ( APC) in the last general elections.

While contestants from the North West, as well as  stakeholders from that area, argue that the position should be ceded to them, because of their voting population, a school of thought believes the position should be thrown open to all qualified contestants irrespective of their zone of origin.

Apart from Abass and Kalu, who hail from Kaduna, North West and Abia South East respectively,  others interested  in the speakership seat include the deputy speaker, Idris Wase, (Plateau, North Central); House leader, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, (Kano, North West); chairman, House Committee on Appropriations,  Muktar Betara,(Borno, North East); chairman, House Committee on Navy,  Yusuf Gagdi, (Plateau, North Central) and Aminu Jaji, (Zamfara, North West).

Others are chairman, House Committee on Water Resources, Sada Soli,( Kastina, North West) and chairman, Committee on Persons with Disability, Mariam Onuoha ( Imo, South East). Raheem Olawuyi, (Kwara, North Central) and Makki Yalleman,(Jigawa, North West).

APC consensus of crisis

However, amid the raging debate over which zone should produce the speaker or if the contest should be thrown open to all qualified contestants, the  APC which has the majority of members-elect in the forthcoming assembly,  last Monday, announced Abass and Kalu as its consensus candidates for  the office of speaker and deputy speaker respectively.

Ironically, the APC consensus arrangement effectively shut out the North Central from the leadership of the 10th National Assembly, as Abass hails from the North West as Jibrin Barau, who the ruling party named as its  preferred candidate for the office of Deputy Senate President. Former Akwa Ibom governor, Godswill Akpabio, was named the APC choice for the position of Senate President.

Recall that speculations were rife last month that the speaker, Femi Gbjabimiala, was working for the emergence of Abass as his successor. Regardless, Gbajabiamila had denied it, saying he had no preferred candidate in the contest.

However, the APC through its consensus arrangement  has stirred the hornet’s nest in the Green chamber and the polity, with several persons criticizing it.

For instance, while the  Ondo State governor, Rotimi Akeredolu said the consensus option “is a skewed arrangement that reinforces injustice and enhances inequity”,  Doguwa said the consensus arrangement is dead on arrival.

The House leader noted that the leadership cannot be imposed on the parliament by outsiders. Doguwa while stating that the parliament must be respected said whoever the lawmakers-elect decide to choose as their leaders is purely their business.

According to him, “one message  I want to put  across is that the parliament, in this case the House of Representatives and by extension the National Assembly,  is one institution that must always be allowed to choose and work out its own business by itself.

“The business of our leadership should be solely our business and no other person’s business. We must be respected as an institution.  In a situation where you have some other  people in whatsoever guise or whatsoever name trying to decide our leadership or determine where or  how our leadership or who should  form part of our leadership from outside,  without consulting us,  I think that should be seen as a mere failure. Inclusion in politics is very key and important.”

The deputy speaker concurred that consensus presupposes that there have been broad based consultations and a compromise reached. According to Wase, they just suddenly started hearing that the APC has anointed some people as consensus candidates, without conversation around the issue.

His words : “When you say you you have a consensus candidate, the language for consensus is very simple. It means they have to do mass consultations. People are going to go to to the  table for discussion and there is agreement. In this case, we just saw and we are hearing rumors, speculations that some people have been made consensus candidates. I don’t know whether that is the meaning of consensus.”

Between legislative independence and party loyalty

Expectedly, the consensus arrangement has polarized the Green chamber, with the aggrieved aspirants, who have formed a coalition, and their supporters, on one hand against the Joint Task -10th assembly, which is pushing for respect for the APC decision in respect to the leadership of the 10th House.

The Joint Task-10th Assembly, a bi-partisan coalition of members-elect, prior to the unveiling of Abass and Kalu as the ruling party’s choice as presiding officers of the 10th House, had vowed to ensure that the wish of the APC prevails. The group, in a statement by Bello Kumo and Kingsley Chinda, chairman and co-chairman respectively, had also warned that  there would be dire consequences for the country if members flout the APC decision on the choice of the House leadership.

According to them, “We are aware of the theatrics in the 8th National Assembly. But Nigerians want to see good governance and not grandstanding. Rebellion will deny the incoming Tinubu administration the opportunity to deliver on its mandate and the high expectations from Nigerians, especially under the current ethnic and religious tension in the country.”

On the flip-side, the aggrieved aspirants, who have formed an alliance code named G-7, have vowed to ensure that the APC zoning arrangement does not stand. They equally visited the APC national secretariat to register their protest and demand for a review of the party’s position.

Wase, while addressing lawmakers-elect at Betara’s formal declaration, last Monday, charged them to rise up in defence of the independence of the legislature.

“What we are witnessing today, we have never seen that kind of moment in the parliament. And that is why every parliamentarian must rise to the occasion to defend this institution to ensure that we do the right thing.

“We will not allow this parliament to be disgraced. We will not allow this parliament to be hijacked. We will not allow this parliament to be made a lame duck. I believe we are loyal to our country first. Loyal to our party and loyal to our people.We will defeat those forces who think Nigeria is in their pocket,” the deputy speaker declared.

Regardless, Kalu, prior to the announcement of the zoning had noted that the party has a role to play in “setting the structure of government”.

According to him, “a more consolidated House is better for the incoming administration if the objectives set by it is to be achieved. We must work as a formidable front towards confronting the hydra-headed problems confronting us as Nigerians.

“In a democratic clime like ours, the ruling party play a key role in setting up the structure of government. For some of us who believe in the supremacy of the party, we will always tag along the position of the party. “

Incidentally, the House has a history of rebellion against political parties, when it comes to the choice of its leadership. In 2011, members of the House had chosen the outgoing governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, as speaker, against Mulikat Akande endorsed for the position by the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP). Same scenario played out in 2015, when lawmakers rejected Gbajabiamila, who was the party’s choice, choosing Yakubu Dogara from Bauchi as speaker of the 8th House. 

Pundits say it is likely there might be a repeat of the 2011 and 2015 scenario, if the controversy is not resolved before the inauguration of the House. Already, there are indications that the Greater Majority, a Coalition of opposition lawmakers-elect, which expressed its desire to determine who leads the 10th House might collaborate with the G-7.

However, while APC has promised to review the decision, the Vice President- elect, Kashim Shettima is making frantic efforts to get the aggrieved aspirants to drop the opposition to the zoning arrangement.

Whether or not the ruling party will be able to resolve the zoning crisis and install its preferred candidates as leaders of the 10th House, remains to be seen.