Despite rumours that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the incoming president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and governors who support the party’s platform are supporting Senator Godswill Akpabio and Hon. Tajudeen Abbas for the positions of Senate president and Speaker of the House of Representatives, respectively, federal lawmakers in the race for the leadership of the National Assembly are not ready to give up.
The anointed candidates for the positions of Speaker of the 10th National Assembly and President of the Senate have been met with increasing criticism.
At the conclusion of an eight-man APC caucus meeting held at Tinubu’s Abuja villa on Friday morning, the much-anticipated zoning arrangement for the leadership of the 10th Assembly was made public.
The main opposition caucus in the Senate rejected the nominated candidate for the role of Senate president in the 10th National Assembly, Akpabio, putting an end to his aspirations.
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The president-elect and the leadership of the ruling party have chosen Akpabio as their preferred choice, while Kano State senator Jibril Barau has been chosen to serve as deputy Senate president. Akpabio joined the ruling APC in the run-up to the 2019 general election.
But Akpabio is not popular with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the National Assembly, either in the ninth or the tenth assembly, hence all of the former governor of Akwa Ibom State’s appeals have been ignored by the PDP lawmakers-elect.
Only three of the 36 PDP senators-to-be reportedly support Akpabio, and those three senators-to-be are from Rivers State as a result of Governor Nyesom Wike’s partnership with the APC at the centre.
It was also discovered that the way he humiliated and blamed the federal lawmakers during a Senate hearing on the Niger Delta Affairs Ministry under him in 2021 is another factor against the APC nomination.
“His behaviour that day shows someone who hate the legislators’ guts and he is ready to shut the door of reconciliation.
“Another reason why most legislators are afraid of supporting Akpabio is his connection to the travails of two South-South Senators, Senator Bassey (Akpan) of Akwa Ibom and Senator Peter Nwaoboshi of Delta,” the lawmaker added.
Additionally, the senator-elect for Zamfara West, Abdul’Aziz Yari, rejected Bola Tinubu’s request that he concede the Senate presidential race to Senator Godswill Akpabio and instead declared his intention to run for the job.
The race for the Senate presidency, according to Yari, the recently-retired governor of Zamfara State, will be decided by the Constitution and not by outside directives.
He declared, “Whatever happens that day, it is going to happen based on the instructions of the constitution and not for anyone.”
Yari characterised the election as Senators’ business, supported by the 1999 Constitution’s requirement that they select their leaders independently and without outside guidance.
The incumbent deputy speaker, Idris Wase, the chairman of the house appropriations committee, Muktar Aliyu Betara, and the chairman of the house navy committee, Hon. Yusuf Adamu Gagdi, are among those who insist on running for speaker in the Green Chamber.
Gadgi has requested that the APC and the incoming president zone the presiding officer roles for the 10th National Assembly without endorsing certain people for particular seats.
Gagdi specifically urged the president-elect and the party to zone the position of Speaker to the North Central zone and allow a free and fair competition. This was apparently in response to Tinubu and the highest levels of the party endorsing former minister of Niger Delta Affairs Godswill Akpabio and chairman of the House committee on Land Transport Hon. Tajudeen Abbas as Senate president and Speaker of the House, respectively.
Gagdi pointed out that, with the exception of the North Central zone, the other two northern zones have produced Speakers of the House in Nigeria’s fourth republic while releasing his platform and strategy document dubbed “The Gagdi Plan” at the official announcement of his intention to run for Speaker of the 10th Assembly.
Gagdi urged the APC to follow the principles of equity, justice, and fairness and pledged to remain a devoted and law-abiding party member.
He stated: “I will continue to be a law-abiding member just as I have ever been, I will continue to be an advocate of justice equity and fairness. I will not be deterred by any act that seems to undermine the principle of justice.
“Our president-elect, Asiwaju, I am following his footsteps based on his potential, antecedents and based on what he means for Nigeria. I cannot remember as an APC member where Mr President-elect, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, was endorsed as consensus candidate for our party. No, it was only zoned to the Southern part of Nigeria.”
According to Mohammed Gudaji Kazaure, the representative for Jigawa State’s Kazaure/Roni/Gwiwa/Yankwashi federal constituency, Muktar Betara is still the front-runner to become the next Speaker of the House of Representatives.
In a message of goodwill at the event to introduce “The Gagdi Plan,” Kazaure praised Betara as a guy of enormous goodwill who could easily win the election for speaker of the 10th Assembly.
He pointed out that Betara was solely responsible for the votes that resulted in Yakubu Dogara and Femi Gbajabiamila becoming the Speakers of the House of Representatives in the eighth and ninth assemblies.
Gagdi was given the advice to negotiate with Betara to determine which of them would succeed the departing Speaker. He said: “The truth is Betara is the major contender in this race. If he is with Gagdi, he would win 100 per cent. They understand each other. They Know each other. Betara is a good man; he is a very gentleman who is always calm and silent. The only thing with him is that he doesn’t know how to say no.
“For me, we need a Speaker who would say no. I advise members to vote for Gagdi. I am planning to go and meet Betara and tell him to come and join Gagdi. Betara deserves the Speakership seat which he is now trying to take.”
Betara was referred to by Kazaure, who cautioned the APC leadership against imposing a speakership candidate on the House, as the father of the House. Betara is beloved and respected by all of the House of Representatives’ members.
In a similar vein, another member of the House who is a fervent Tajudeen supporter asserted that the first obstacle had just been overcome and that Tinubu and the APC must now make sure that the Betara camp approves before the party’s pick can be made.
