N’Assembly Leadership: Act Fast Before It is Too Late, Kwankwaso Advises APC
Speakership race: South-west, North-west reach accord Pick Gbajabiamila for speaker, Jubrin for deputy
Kano State Governor, Alhaji Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has advised the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to act fast in the zoning formula of the leadership of the National Assembly.
Kwankwaso stated: “Any delay could cause the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to form the leadership of the assembly in an unusual manner.”
While fielding questions from journalists in his office yesterday, Kwankwaso said though the APC was working on the zoning formula for the leadership positions, the party should act fast and come out with acceptable guidelines for the zoning, adding that if delayed, it could be messed up and the party might not achieve the expectations of the people.
“I advise the national leadership of APC to act fast before it is too late in the zoning formula for the National Assembly leadership. APC should consider that the issue of leadership of the National Assembly is very important. I also advise the party to avoid making mistakes as the PDP did in 2011. I know they are working on it (the zoning formula), but let it be fast.”
Kwankwaso, who warned the party to avoid what happened on the opposition PDP in 2011, also noted that the issue of leadership in the assembly is very important which the party should consider.
Kwankwaso also advised that the leadership zoning formula should favour everybody in order to maintain the party’s status quo, noting that the APC would form the leadership of the assembly because it has the majority of the membership.
“I am hopeful the APC would form the leadership of the assembly. This is because, in normal circumstance, the majority forms the leadership. But in the event the minority forms the leadership, that would be unusual,” he added
He also cleared the air on the rumours that he was vying for a ministerial appointment in the oncoming administration, saying that he had never discussed such an issue with anybody.
Kwankwaso stressed that he heard the rumour through the media, adding that he had never expressed his desire for a federal appointment.
However, as part of the move to ensure a peaceful election of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, the South-west and the North-west zones have agreed to present a joint ticket of the two principal officers of the Green House.
Though the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Working Committee (NWC) is yet to officially announce the zoning of the principal officers of the National Assembly, it was gathered that the two zones are working to use their numerical strength in the House of Representatives to decide the zoning of the speaker of the House and the deputy speaker.
The North-west has the highest number of elected members of the House of Representatives with 92 members, while the South-west has 82 members.
THISDAY gathered that both the North-west and the Southwest constitute more than one third of the House which is 360.
The two principal characters in the contest for the Speaker and Deputy Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila from the Southwest and Adulmumnin Jubrin from the North-west are to address a joint press conference to announce that they would be running on a joint ticket of speaker and deputy speaker respectively.
The press conference to announce the joint ticket of the North-west and South-west is expected to take place in Transcorp Hilton today at 11a.m.
A source said this move is to simply arm twist the leadership of the party to quickly announce the zoning of the principal offices of the National Assembly.
The source who was present when the decision was taken said: “This is all politics and where the party has delayed in taken a quick decision on issues like this, we work to make them act fast. With 92 members from the north-west and 82 members from the south-west, we are saying that we cannot be taken for granted.”
The source further said: “Gbajabiamila is a Christian from Lagos State, while Jubrin is a Muslim from Kano State, hence this is a balanced equation.”
But this notwithstanding, the North-east group is still fighting for Yakubu Dogara to contest from Bauchi State. Dogara is a Christian.
It was gathered that part of the decision for this agreement is to avoid a situation where the contest for the speakership will overheat the system and consequently disobey the party zoning arrangement, saying, “in announcing the zoning arrangements for the House, the APC leadership will not take this agreement for granted. We represent more than 174 members and certainly this is a number that cannot be played with.”
THISDAY was told that the APC leadership is much disposed towards having a popular candidates emerge as the principal officers of the National Assembly.