>
Akinwande Soji-Ojo
Barring any last minute changes, the seven opposition parties with members-elect in the House of Representatives have declared their intention to unanimously produce the Speaker and Deputy Speaker in the 10th National Assembly.
The opposition parties, under the aegis of minority caucus with a maxim,:“The Greater Majority,”, said it was buoyed up by its numerical strength to achieve its objective.
The decision was reached at an emergency meeting of the leadership of the minority caucus of the seven political parties outside the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), held at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, on Thursday night.
A statement issued by the spokesperson of the caucus, Hon. Victor Adam Ogene, and made available to newsmen in Abuja, said the outcome of last Saturday’s supplementary elections has indicated that the membership of the minority caucus has risen to 182, one vote more than the statutory benchmark required to elect a Speaker.
He added that there were prospects of gaining more members from the system.
Ogene, who is a former deputy chairman, Media and Publicity Committee of the House in the 7th Assembly, explained that the constitution of Nigeria imbued every elected member with the statutory right to gun for any position, subject to the standing orders of the House.
He said that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) should not force zoning on members-elect of the House.
“Besides the issue of ranking, every member is entitled to run for the office of Speaker, regardless of political party affiliation.
“The All Progressives Congress, APC, or indeed, any political party for that matter, reserves the right to regale itself with talks about micro-zoning leadership positions in the National Assembly. But the overriding question remains, are such fanciful engagements binding on the generality of Members-Elect? The answer today, tomorrow – and until our current constitution is altered to reflect that desire – is a big No.
“Issues surrounding this all-important question is easily resolved, in the case of the House of Representatives, by Section 50(1)(b), to wit: “There shall be a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves.”
“While zoning is permitted, as an intra-party solution to the sharing of political offices, seeking to enforce such on the generality of members would be tantamount to affronting Section 50 of the Nigerian constitution.
“Besides, political parties must not always use the National Assembly as guinea pigs for their zoning fancies. Why didn’t these governors summon the same courage, which they currently seek to flaunt, during the presidential primaries, by micro-zoning the presidency to a particular zone? If it was okay to say that the presidential ticket should go to the South, then I think they ought to follow through with that same template, and propose, for instance, that the Speakership should go to the North,” he said.