10th NASS: More groups reject APC’s zoning arrangement, as Tinubu jets off to Europe
…Wase, Betara, say two presiding officers can’t emerge from one region
By Tom Okpe
The All Progressive Congress, (APC) is facing the repeat of what happened in 2015, giving room to a repeat of history, when the party could not have those it backed, emerged presiding officers of the National Assembly.
The party had in 2015 endorsed Ahmad Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila for the position of the Senate President and House of Representatives Speaker but that did not as Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara clinched the positions.
Similarly, APC has again endorsed Godswill Akpabio and Abass Tajudeen for the position of Senate President and Speaker.
However, frontline aspirants for the position of the Speaker, including Ahmed Idris-Wase, the deputy speaker and Muktar Betara, the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation have kicked against the party’s choice.
Others who are against APC’s endorsement are Yusuf Gagdi (Plateau), Miriam Onuoha (Imo), Sada Soli (Katsina) and Sani Jaji (Zamfara).
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APC had on Monday given a nod to the endorsement of Tajudeen (Kaduna) and Benjamin Kalu (Abia) for the position of speaker and deputy speaker by Bola Tinubu, the president-elect.
The six aspirants on Wednesday stormed the APC National Secretariat in Abuja where they expressed their grievances and also presented a protest letter to the party’s National Chairman Abdullahi Adamu.
They warned the NWC and stakeholders of the party to prepare for a repeat of 2015 scenario should the party allow the endorsed candidates list to stand.
In his speech, Wase said for such a decision to be arrived at, there was need for serious consultations with all members, reminding the party that it does not have the majority in the House, hence, the need to have everyone to agree with such a zoning template.
He said: “What was on social media, again, was the zoning and the micro zoned to particular individuals. As I speak to you sir, I want to say categorically that none of us here was approached or consulted even for a second to find our opinion and thought on what was going to be done or what has happened.
“Your Excellency, sir, that is the crux of matter and we feel betrayed by that action. We feel that as if our contributions are not recognized, we feel as if we are not members of this family. We feel that we have given our best but now the best is no longer needed.
“We are here to protest and to appeal to you to go again to look into this matter. That what had been ushered out will not stand. And we are disciplined party people.
“I want to say too in 2019, Your Excellency, I was going in for speakership. I was pretty sure I was going to win. Leaders of the party called me including the president and appealed to me to step down for Hon. Femi. I did that and that was how I came in to take the position of the deputy speaker. I want to say that what has happened I think that they are taking us for granted.
“We do not want a repeat of what has happened in the past. We should not forget about the “Tambuwalisation” of what happened in the House of Representatives. We should not forget about the emergence of how Saraki became the senate president. The party as of today we do not have the majority to be that arrogant, and we should take people for granted.”
On his part, Betara said there was no time two presiding positions were zoned to the same zone and warned the party against the consequences of such decision.
“We are not against our leaders, but if we should sit down and say sit amongst yourselves and pick somebody you think you can work with, it is easy. But the person, the speaker (Gbajabiamila) is trying to even pick, there are some of our colleagues that don’t know him. That’s the truth, I am not lying. If today the party said we zone to the North-west, I have to sit and think because now the party is zoning the deputy senate president and the speaker to the same zone.
“We have been in this Assembly, there is no time, two presiding officers are zoned to one area. It has never happened. And in our discussion here, on our inauguration day, it’s what happened in the Senate that will determine what is going to happen in the House.
“So, we need to sit down and look at it. We might produce the Senate President from a different zone. It happened in 2015. So as a party, we are pleading, we need to sit again with all of us and do more consultations.”
Betara also denied the allegation that he was involved in anti-party activities.
He said: “Another thing I need to clear here sir, somebody told me that the same group is saying, I gave money to a presidential aspirant. So if there is any transfer to anybody, the banks are there. I want to still tell you as leaders if I should give money to a presidential aspirant and he wins, what is he going to give me? My own, I want to become Speaker in my party. If another party wins, can I become speaker? No. So we don’t need to blackmail ourselves. Politics is about give and take.”
In his response, Adamu assured the lawmakers that the party would embark on further consultations and would get back to them.
The chairman stressed that the statement issued by the party clearly stated that the party leadership would endeavour to do more consultations so that everyone would be carried along.
He said: “There is nothing we do that may not be challenged here and there. But let us be able to attend the best possible consultation with people giving them their right of fair hearing before we can say yes we are changing positions or we are not changing positions.
“I plead with you in good conscience to give us a little time to take a good and better look at your presentation and open our ears and our eyes the more to hear more and see more before we can come with finality of your submission and the outcome of it. I thank you for your approach.
“Approximately important, you should know this is a party, you organise and you are here and you didn’t follow the backdoor to talk to us; you have come straight to us. I, on behalf of my colleagues, we appreciate you.”
