Aliyu Betara, the current Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, has officially announced his intention to contest for the position of the Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the announcement was made on Monday at an event held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja, ahead of the June 5 inauguration.
The Borno politician was joined by several other contestants, including Ahmed Wase, the Deputy Speaker, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, the Leader of the House, Sani Jaji, and Tunji Olawuyi. Other lawmakers-elect from different parties were also present in solidarity with the aspirant.
Notably present at the event was the Niger Governor-elect, Umaru Bago, a serving lawmaker and a close ally of Betara.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Working Committee recently zoned the position of the Speaker to the North-West, while the Deputy Speaker was zoned to the South-East.
Meanwhile, Abbas Tajudeen of the APC in Kaduna was chosen to succeed current Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila in the 10th Assembly, with Benjamin Kalu of the APC in Abia chosen as Deputy Speaker.
Betara, in his declaration, accused Gbajabiamila of sponsoring an unpopular candidate to succeed him. He expressed surprise at Gbajabiamila’s nomination of Abass, despite several other members indicating interest in the position.
Despite this, Betara vowed to go ahead with his bid for the Speakership.
“If today, the deputy speaker of the house is contesting, the chairman of the appropriation committee is contesting, the majority leader is contesting, then who’s closer (in rank) to the speaker,” he asked.
