There are strong indications that a group of major contenders for the position of speaker in the incoming 10th House of Representatives have formed a potent alliance with Hon. Muktar Aliyu Betara for the top job.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that on Monday, Betara formally declared his intention to run for the office in Abuja, where he received support from top political figures, including outgoing deputy speaker Hon. Idris Wase, House leader Hon. Ado Doguwa, and Chairman of the House Committee on Navy Hon. Yusuf Gagdi.
Also present were Hon. Sada Soli, Hon. Umaro Bago (an outgoing member who is the Governor-elect of Niger State), and Hon. Mohammed Mongunu from Borno State, who is now a Senator-elect.
The event was held at the Osun/Lagos hall of the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja and was attended by a handful of lawmakers from across political parties, filling the venue to the brim.
Vehicles filled the hotel premises, causing traffic to build up at the main gate.
During the event, Hon. Wase stated that Abbas was not known to members of the House.
He said, “I want to add that we are here to ensure the independence of the parliament. To ensure that we work together. Every Parliamentarian must rise to the occasion
“We will work as a team. We will not allow this parliament to be hijacked. We will not allow this parliament to be made a lame duck. I believe we are loyal to our country first. Loyal to our party and loyal to our people.
“When you say you have a consensus candidate, the language for consensus is that there have been mass consultations, people go to table for discussion. There is agreement. In this case, we just saw and we are hearing rumors, speculations that some people have been made consensus candidates.
“I don’t know whether that is the meaning of consensus. This place is very sacred. We must be Honourable in our action in defence of the federal republic of Nigeria”, he said.
Similarly, Doguwa said that APC was yet to consult them before zoning the positions. He said it was the business of the parliament to choose her leaders.
He said: “One message I want to our across is that the parliament is one institution that must always be allowed to choose own leaders.
“The business of our leadership should be solely our business and no other person’s business. In a situation where you have some people in whatsoever guise trying to decide our leadership, to form our leadership from outside without consulting us I think that should be seen as a mere failure.
“I remain available for consultations until that is done, everyone will answer his father’s name.”
In his declaration, Betara said that he was working in tandem with other aspirants for the project.
“My name is Muktar Aliyu Betara. I am from Borno State. Much has been said about Betara. I invited all of you here to declare for the speakership of the 10th Assembly. I am supposed to read this my speech but I think it will take time. All has been said about me. The most important thing today is for me to declare that I am contesting for the speakership.
“Today is our day for members-elect and for former members of the parliament. You are seeing all the aspirants here. They came to support me because we are one family. We are moving as a group. We have been in the system for years. I was a member in the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th Assemblies”, he said.
This declaration comes after the APC released its zoning formula for leadership positions in the upcoming 10th National Assembly.
In a statement signed by Barr. Felix Morka, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, the National Working Committee of the APC on Monday named Senator Godswill Akpabio and Hon. Tajudeen Abass as its preferred candidates for Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, respectively.
The move by the group of contenders to ally with Betara could upset the APC’s preferred candidate.
