Search for Bankole’s successor splits Reps

Posted by admin House, Latest Politics, Legislature, National Politics Friday, May 6th, 2011

The search for the next Speaker of the House of Representatives has split the ranks of returning members into three power blocs, setting the stage for infighting and scheming among the lawmakers, an investigation has shown.

This is amid the uncertainty over which of the six geopolitical zones in the country will produce the next speaker.

Signals from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party suggest that the seat may have been narrowed down to the South-East and the South-West.

No fewer than 100 lawmakers secured return tickets at the April 9 National Assembly poll.

The majority of 253 lost their re-election bid, while seven members won election to the Senate.

SATURDAY PUNCH gathered in Abuja that ahead of the June 6 inauguration of the seventh assembly, the returning lawmakers had positioned themselves to determine who would be the successor to the incumbent Speaker, Mr. Dimeji Bankole.

However, the search reportedly split the House into three camps – fourth timers (1999 till date); third timers (2003 till date); and second timers (2007 till date).

It was gathered that the fourth timers, now few in the House, had designated themselves as “kingmakers,” insisting that they must nominate the next speaker for endorsement by the rest.

“What they want is either for them to pick the next speaker or at least, one of them must be the next deputy speaker.

“It does not matter if the speaker comes from the third timers, but they want to narrow the candidates down to their own choice,” a National Assembly source informed SATURDAY PUNCH in Abuja.

But those in the other two camps, especially the second timers, were said to be pushing for a “complete break from the past.”

These camps were alleged to hold the view that the zone of the country to produce the speaker was immaterial at the moment, but a “commitment by candidates that it will no longer be business as usual.”

“This House has suffered enough image bashing since 2007; from the (Patricia) Etteh saga to the N2.3bn car scam, to the free-for-all in June 2010 and the apparent lack of focus in the management of the affairs of the House.

“We need a break from the past; we have to return the House to what it is known for, the people’s House.

“We have to get this right first; the question of what zone should produce the speaker is secondary for now,” a lawmaker confided in SATURDAY PUNCH.

At a meeting held at the NICON Luxury Hotel, Abuja, on Tuesday, May 3, by the returning lawmakers, frank views were reportedly shared.

An investigation showed that tempers rose several times at the meeting, as some lawmakers expressed displeasure over the way the House had been run in the last four years.

In attendance at the meeting were the Chief Whip, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha; the Minority Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila; the Chairman of the Committee on Education, Mr. Farouk Lawan; the Chairman of the Committee on Climate Change, Mr. Eziuche Ubani; the Chairman of the Committee on Banking and Currency, Mr. Ogbuefi Ozomgbachi, and Mr. Asita Honourable, among others.

“People asked a lot of questions and they are still asking. After the Etteh saga, we derailed; what became of the Integrity Group?

“Why did we run into one scandal after another since the exit of Etteh? Why did we fail to bring ourselves to resolve most of these issues? We continued as though nothing mattered,” a member, who attended the meeting, told SATURDAY PUNCH.

Findings indicated that the majority of the over 55 retuning lawmakers, who attended the meeting, were seeking a break from the past and to get “candidates for key offices to agree to fulfil some conditions, especially relating to acts capable of tarnishing the image of the House.”

However, the fourth timers and a few third timers were said to have adopted a “conservative” approach, arguing that experience and qualification as a former principal officer should be the deciding factors of who the next presiding officers should be.

“Where this happens, the possibility of protecting certain interests will be there, as opposed to the desire of many to break away from the past.

“We have to get these issues straightened out before the new members-elect resume for the election proper in June.

“They have to be guided to key into the direction many of the retuning members want to steer the House,” another lawmaker added.

Members were said to have insisted that there would be no imposed or consensus candidates this time around.

“All the positions, whether speaker, deputy speaker, leader and what have you, must be contested through secret balloting.

“Our new leaders must have a broad-based acceptance by the majority of members,” the legislator stated.

SATURDAY PUNCH learnt that the meeting ended without reaching any concrete resolution, although members agreed on the need for more of such meetings. However, those angling to be speaker used the opportunity to canvass support. They included Ihedioha, Ozomgbachi, Ubani and Bethel Amadi.

The four lawmakers, who are from the South-East geopolitical zone, have been canvassing support in the hope that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party will zone the position to the area. Ihedioha and Amadi are from Imo State while Ubani is from Abia State. Ozomgbachi is from Enugu State.

However, there are speculations that the PDP is under pressure to retain the present zoning formula, in which case the South-West will produce the next speaker.

A returning member from Oyo State, Mr. Muraina Ajibola, is the only ranking lawmaker among the three returning PDP legislators from the zone, a possibility that he will simply pick the seat without sweating for it.

A separate meeting convened by the 253 new members-elect was scheduled for Friday night in Abuja and it was unclear what the outcome would be as at the time of going to press.

-Punchwp_posts