A Curious Race for Speakership
The race for the speakership of the House of Representatives promises to be interesting, writes Femi George
As political horse trading begin for zoning of principal offices as an APC led National Assembly get underway, indications are emerging that the battle for the Speaker of the House of Representatives may be narrowed to three lawyers even though two seem to have upper hands.
The APC administration currently has the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari from the Northwest and the Vice President-elect, Professor Yemi Osinbajo is from the southwest. The Senate President, according to insiders, is likely to be zoned the North central with Senators Bukola Saraki and George Akume as major contenders. Bukola is a more formidable force within the APC top ranking members and enjoys tremendous goodwill but being a Yoruba man may hinder Saraki’s chances given the fact that a Vice-President of Yoruba extraction is there. Akume, currently the minority leader in the Senate stands a chance especially with Buhari’s shocking victory in Benue and to hit back at Senator David Mark who allegedly muzzled APC Senators in recent months with the clearing of Senator Musliu Obanikoro for a ministerial position despite strong opposition from APC Senators including those from Lagos, where Obanikoro hails from.
For the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the contest is likely to be among lawyers. The current Speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal will not be returning to the House of Representatives. He is APC’s Governorship candidate in Sokoto State and someone else has been elected to replace him in the House of Representatives.
The race for the APC Speaker, insiders say is likely to be a contest between individuals and zones. Current minority leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, a lawyer by profession, has an outstanding record in the House of Representatives and has a good standing in the APC inner workings. He has good understanding of the House rules and with his re-election, he is going for a third term as a representative.
He is a founding member of the APC, coming from the merger parties, the Action Congress of Nigeria. His godfather, Bola Tinubu is the leader of the APC and has the most listening ears of the President-elect. However, Gbajabiamila’s origin as someone from Lagos State, where Vice Presidentelect, Yemi Osinbajo hails, could be a major impediment to his potential ambition.
There are those who argue, however, that outgoing Speaker Tambuwal and VP Namadi Sambo hail from Northwest. Others maintain nonetheless, that Sambo and Tambuwal were from different States of Kaduna and Sokoto respectively as the case with the VP elect and Gbajabiamila who are from Ogun and Lagos State respectively. Still, it may be near impossible for the APC to concede the positions of numbers two and four men of the country to the two states, especially that Osinbajo is known more with Lagos.
Some insiders believe the APC is likely to zone the Speaker’s office to the Northeast zone. Should that happen, two lawyers are said to be in contention. Yakubu Dogara from Bauchi State, a lawyer by profession, he is said to be positioning himself for the number four office. Dogara was in the PDP before he defected to the APC prior to the elections. The fact that he wasn’t a founding member of the APC may work against him in relation to other contenders.
Dogara is the Chairman, House of Representatives committee on House Services and with his recent reelection on the APC platform, he is gunning for a third term in the House. His State, Bauchi is home to National Chairman of the PDP, which will become the main opposition party under an APC led presidency, starting May 29, 2015.
The APC may want to have a strong presence in Bauchi to balance Muazu’s presence depending on which party wins the governorship in Bauchi State. PDP controls the State at the moment. Some insiders are however of the opinion that Borno State stands a very good chance of being provided the opportunity of producing the next Speaker. The insiders think that the APC may zone the seat as compensation to Borno State for two main reasons. First, the fact that since 1999, Borno has been consistently in opposition starting with the defunct APP that later became ANPP which was one of the three political parties that merged to form the APC.
Yobe State has the same history but the fact that the State produced the National Secretary of the APC may hinder it from getting the position of Speaker. The second reason Borno may stand a good chance, the insiders add, is the commitment of incumbent Governor Kashim Shettima to the APC.
-George wrote from Abuja
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