TOO BIG TO SUCCEED

West), Mohammed Monguno from Borno (North East), Pally Iriase from Edo State (South South) and Israel Ajibola Famurewa from Osun State (South West). Currently, out of these six, only two are top contenders: Gbajabiamila and Dogara.

Gbajabiamila is the House Minority Leader, and a senior lawmaker to Dogara, having been in the House since 2003. He may not be the first choice of several of his colleagues, but he’s said to have the backing of Tinubu. As expected, a majority of the lawmakers from the South-west are equally backing him.

Also, twenty caucus members of the House of Representatives from the North-central zone are said to have endorsed Gbajabiamila for the position of speaker, after eight of their own in a statement had come out to say that the caucus had endorsed Dogara for same position. The new 20 members coming out for Gbajabiamila were to deny the statement from the eight.

That notwithstanding, the fear that Gbajabiamila may be subservient to Tinubu is what is making an easy job difficult for Gbajabiamila. A more popular candidate than Dogara and even senior in the House, the position would have been a walkover for Gbajabiamila if his apron was not rumoured to be tied to Tinubu. This could be his undoing and Dogara’s victory.

To dispel this rumour, Gbajabiamila has taken to campaign for votes from among his colleagues. Sensing failure in relying on Tinubu to deliver the speakership to him, he’s been meeting with fellow House members and soliciting personally for their support.

Dogara has the support of lawmakers from the North Central zone. House of Representatives members from the zone recently met and signed a statement to that effect. In it they said members from the six states of the region and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have resolved to give Dogara bloc votes next month when the House is inaugurated.

According to the statement, “The North Central zonal caucus of the House of Representatives hereby announces its endorsement of Hon. Yakubu Dogara as Speaker of the House in the next Assembly. We have resolved to deliver bloc votes to Dogara during the election and ensure that we further canvass for votes and supports for him from other zones.”

Saraki and Dogara are most likely to get the support of PDP lawmakers simply because the party, now in the opposition, is expected to be bent on paying back Tinubu, a force behind the defeat of the PDP during the March 28 presidential election. Like Tambuwal emerged through the spoiler played by the APC then, the PDP this time is expected to play the spoiler against the APC and elect both a President and Speaker that are theirs and not the stooge of any leader or president.