A new group, United Nigeria Group, emerged in the
House of Representatives on Monday, backing the zoning of the position
of Speaker to the South-West by the Peoples Democratic Party.
The group, which is led by a returnee PDP member from Edo State, Mr. Friday Itulah, claimed that zoning the number four position to any zone other than the South-West would “create political imbalance in the country.”
The UNG spoke in Abuja as anti-zoning lawmakers backing the aspiration of the Deputy Whip of the House, Alhaji Aminu Waziri-Tambuwal, went into a meeting with Action Congress of Nigeria lawmakers in the city.
Waziri-Tambuwal, who is from the North-West (Sokoto State), along with some lawmakers from the South-South and the South-East, have opposed the zoning arrangement of the party.
They have argued that the position should be thrown open to allow lawmakers to elect a speaker of their choice rather than “sacrificing experience, excellence and the progress of the House on the altar of zoning.”
But, Itulah criticised the Waziri-Tambuwal group on Monday, saying “centrifugal forces are trying to cause a major political imbalance in the system that is threatening the unity of this country.”
Itulah, a former speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, added, “We are aware that the number one position is in the South-South, the number two position is in the North-West, the third position is in the North-Central and we feel that the South-West as a critical part of this country should get the speakership.
“The speakership must go to South-West so that one segment of the country must not feel marginalised. People should not bring in sentiments on this matter.
According to him, many members were in support of zoning, adding that they were willing to choose between Mrs. Mulikat Akande-Adeola and Mr. Muraina Ajibola, both from Oyo State.
Akande-Adeola is expected to pair with Mr. Yakubu Dogara (Bauchi State), while Ajibola is said to be routing for Mr. Bawa Abdulahi (Taraba State) to run with him as deputy speaker.
But, as Itulah spoke, some members of the ACN, PDP and Labour Party members from the South-West, checked into a hotel in Abuja for a scheduled meeting with Aminu-Waziri Tambuwal.
Investigations showed that the purpose of the meeting was to woo party caucuses in the South-West to support the Waziri-Tambuwal agenda.
“The struggle is on; our concern is that the PDP, as it is today, has no capacity to produce a speaker from the South-West.
Findings indicated that, the lawmakers backing Waziri-Tambuwal were prepared to elect an ACN member as the speaker “if that will satisfy our desire to elect a speaker of our own.”
It was gathered that the group had already positioned the Minority Leader of the House and member of the ACN from Lagos State, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, to pick the seat “if everything else to stop the PDP fails.”
The group was said to have argued that the issue of the majority party producing presiding officers was “a mere parliamentary tradition and not a constitutional matter.”
By John Ameh, Abuja Courtesy Of: Punch
The group, which is led by a returnee PDP member from Edo State, Mr. Friday Itulah, claimed that zoning the number four position to any zone other than the South-West would “create political imbalance in the country.”
The UNG spoke in Abuja as anti-zoning lawmakers backing the aspiration of the Deputy Whip of the House, Alhaji Aminu Waziri-Tambuwal, went into a meeting with Action Congress of Nigeria lawmakers in the city.
Waziri-Tambuwal, who is from the North-West (Sokoto State), along with some lawmakers from the South-South and the South-East, have opposed the zoning arrangement of the party.
They have argued that the position should be thrown open to allow lawmakers to elect a speaker of their choice rather than “sacrificing experience, excellence and the progress of the House on the altar of zoning.”
But, Itulah criticised the Waziri-Tambuwal group on Monday, saying “centrifugal forces are trying to cause a major political imbalance in the system that is threatening the unity of this country.”
Itulah, a former speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, added, “We are aware that the number one position is in the South-South, the number two position is in the North-West, the third position is in the North-Central and we feel that the South-West as a critical part of this country should get the speakership.
“The speakership must go to South-West so that one segment of the country must not feel marginalised. People should not bring in sentiments on this matter.
According to him, many members were in support of zoning, adding that they were willing to choose between Mrs. Mulikat Akande-Adeola and Mr. Muraina Ajibola, both from Oyo State.
Akande-Adeola is expected to pair with Mr. Yakubu Dogara (Bauchi State), while Ajibola is said to be routing for Mr. Bawa Abdulahi (Taraba State) to run with him as deputy speaker.
But, as Itulah spoke, some members of the ACN, PDP and Labour Party members from the South-West, checked into a hotel in Abuja for a scheduled meeting with Aminu-Waziri Tambuwal.
Investigations showed that the purpose of the meeting was to woo party caucuses in the South-West to support the Waziri-Tambuwal agenda.
“The struggle is on; our concern is that the PDP, as it is today, has no capacity to produce a speaker from the South-West.
Findings indicated that, the lawmakers backing Waziri-Tambuwal were prepared to elect an ACN member as the speaker “if that will satisfy our desire to elect a speaker of our own.”
It was gathered that the group had already positioned the Minority Leader of the House and member of the ACN from Lagos State, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, to pick the seat “if everything else to stop the PDP fails.”
The group was said to have argued that the issue of the majority party producing presiding officers was “a mere parliamentary tradition and not a constitutional matter.”
By John Ameh, Abuja Courtesy Of: Punch
No comments:
Post a Comment