Ahead of Tuesday’s inauguration of the 9th National Assembly and the elections of the presiding officers for both the Senate and the House of Representatives, there is a new but stealthy realignment of forces, by the contenders for the different leadership positions. The realignment of candidates showed Femi Gbajabiamila (APC-Lagos) will contest the House speakership with Idris Wase (APC-Plateau) as deputy. They will face-off against Mohammed Bago (APC-Niger) and Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba (APC-Imo). A Southwest APC chieftain told Huhuonline.com that a decision as to who would lead the ticket between Nwajiuba and Bago would be taken at a meeting scheduled for late Sunday night.
The ruling APC has endorsed Gbaja for the position of Speaker, but one main point of convergence amongst lawmakers-elect is how to ensure equity and balance in the political equation amongst the six geo-political zones; a development said to be creating anxiety within the Gbaja/Wase camp. Gbaja and vice president Yemi Osibanjo are from the Southwest zone. Whereas the North Central and Southeast have nothing so far in the power equation decided by the APC which zoned the House speakership to the Southwest zone. Nwajiuba is from the South-east, while Bago is from the North Central.
Some new APC lawmakers-elect told Huhuonline.com that: “All the candidates, who have presented themselves for speaker or deputy speaker, are all qualified, but we are looking at factors that will help engender unity and avoid crisis within the parliament. This is where equity and justice come in. We expect our party to take the trajectory of power equation by ensuring that zones are represented and avoid accusation of marginalization.”
All these calculations and horse-trading comes after Southeast APC chieftains rose from an emergency meeting last Friday, adopting Nwajiuba as their preferred choice for Speaker. The chieftains who met with APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, behind closed doors at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja argued that ceding the position to the Southeast would enhance peace and help contain all forms of restiveness in the region.
The group’s spokesman, Kingsley Ononuju, recalling the exclusion of Southeast in the first tenure of President Buhari, the group noted: “The last time the Southeast headed any organ of government was during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, and that brought stability in governance, peace and progress, especially with the sterling performance of the likes of Senators Ken Nnamani, Anyim Pius Anyim etc. At this point, we are asking: Is South East part of Nigeria? That pertinent question must be answered this time with the emergence of Speaker of the House of Representatives from the South East geopolitical zone.” The group thereby threw their weight behind Nwajiuba, describing him as a detribalized Nigerian who would live up to expectations as Speaker.
Also, former Senate chief whip, Senator Roland Owie, has advised that electing a speaker from the Southeast would ensure the Igbo are not marginalized in the next dispensation. He explained that Nwajiuba becoming the next speaker would balance the polity and end accusations of marginalization and exclusion of the Southeast. Senator Owie warned that the Southeast would be restive and agitated insisting that Nwajiuba’s emergence as speaker would calm nerves in the Southeast and help bring all sections of Nigeria together for national development. The former chief whip pleaded with the Southwest to support a Southeast speaker for equity and fairness in the country. He posited that since the Vice President was from the Southwest, the Yorubas should be content with that and make a sacrifice for national unity by allowing the Southeast to take over the leadership of the House.
Nwajiuba’s ambition to become the next House speaker also received a boost following the endorsement from APC Chairmen in the five states of the Southeast. In a letter to President Buhari, the Chairmen appealed to the president “to passionately look into the zoning arrangement of principal officers’ positions at the National Assembly by our great party. It is our sincere belief that the Southeast should be accommodated in the spirit of one indivisible Nigeria.”
Similarly, a group known as the South-East equity Alliance visited the National Chairman of APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, and pleaded that APC supports Nwajiuba’s ambition. The Chuba Okadigbo Rainbow Organization has also pleaded with President Buhari and the APC leadership to allow Nwajiuba to become speaker in the interest of fairness. The National Chairman of the Group, Okoroma describes Hon. Nwajiuba as a true APC man who would work harmoniously with the Executive and his colleagues to build the Nation.
The other x-factor that is creating palpable tension within the Gbaja camp is the allegations by the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) that Gbaja had earlier been convicted for “willful dishonesty” by the Supreme Court of the State of Georgia, USA and that Wase is also facing allegations of abusing his office for self-enrichment. CUPP, through its spokesman, Ikenga Ugochinyere, said in a press conference in Abuja that Gbaja’s choice for speaker was “morally, politically and constitutionally wrong”, because of allegations of conviction and perjury against him. The CUPP spokesman also disclosed that the Action Peoples Party (APP) had commenced criminal proceedings against Gbaja before Grade I Area Court of the Federal Capital Territory sitting in Karshi.
Though Gbaja has denied the allegations, insisting that he has never been indicted of corrupt practices anywhere in the world, Huhuonline.com gathered the CUPP allegations and the belated attempts at damage-control by the Gbaja camp has thrown a spanner in the works for the APC choice candidate as some APC lawmakers have been voicing their concerns in private and are said to be weighing other options especially, as Gbaja has so far failed to convincingly clear his name. Gbaja, with bar number 288330, was suspended from practicing law in the US for 36 months on February 26, 2007, by the highest court in the state of Georgia, after he admitted to withholding $25,000 he received as damages claims for his client and tried to defraud him.
As a result of the allegations, some APC chieftains asked Gbaja to address a live world press conference to address the issues raised against his person. The press conference turned out to be an unmitigated disaster as Gbaja’s spokesman not only failed to shoot down the allegations but his main defence is that he was never criminally convicted. Some APC lawmakers remain unconvinced arguing that if Gbaja was innocent; why then was he suspended from practising law in the state of Georgia for three years? With the case brought by the APP hanging over his head like the sword of Damocles, some APC lawmakers are wary of electing a speaker with skeletons in his cupboard.
A member of APC, who spoke to reporters in confidence, as he was not authorized to speak, said, “We don’t want to support any candidate, who is said not clean or has some dirty skeletons in his cupboard. We recall the case of former House Speaker in 1999, Salisu Buari, who was forced to resign as speaker and member of the House, because of certificate forgery, claiming he went to university of Toronto in Canada. Any candidate with baggage will certainly not command respect among his colleagues and such a person will easily be tossed around because of his past encumbrances.”
Amid all the backroom wheeling and dealing, the uncertainty was further compounded when a meeting of the main opposition PDP national assembly caucus failed to reach consensus for a block vote for any of the candidates aspiring to become a presiding officer in the 9th National Assembly. No communique was issued at the end as the meeting, which took place at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, ended abruptly. Only the immediate past minority leader in the 8th legislature, Leo Ogor attended. Outside the Lagos hall venue of the meeting, a majority of PDP lawmakers in attendance were heard telling their colleagues to vote their conscience. A dejected Leo Ogor later left the venue after failing to convince the lawmakers on the agenda of the meeting. Some of the members-elect from North Central and Southeast were vocally canvassing for support for Nwajiuba and Bago. They questioned why the Southeast and North Central zones should be left out in the sharing of political offices.
“Nwajiuba is eminently qualified and favorably disposed to rendering service, unifying and building a better Nigeria by working harmoniously with the executive. His goal is to give real meaning to governance through dynamic legislative service. He has emerged and we have to support him. The entire South East including the caucus in the House of Representatives should rally round and make sure that he succeeds. He is a man of integrity with effective political structure both in the North and South. He is a proficient team player, humble and dedicated,” one APC lawmaker told Huhuonline.com.
