Race for deputy speaker, minority leader hots up

Posted by admin House, Legislature Sunday, May 8th, 2011

Ranking members of the House of Representatives from the North-east zone of the country are beginning to position themselves for the position of deputy speaker.
Some of the members who met with the Acting Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Obudu, Haliru Bello, according to a source, got a tacit backing for the position.

It was at the Obudu retreat, after the general election, that the new zoning formula was fine-tuned and agreed upon by the national caucus of the PDP. Against this background, it was gathered that returning members from the zone held several meetings in Abuja last week to draw strategies on how to contest the office. In one of the meetings held at the Transcorp Hotel at the weekend, plans on how to grab the slot of deputy speaker were drawn up ahead of the declaration of the new legislative session in June.

Among the top contenders for the position is Mr. Yakubu Dogara who is currently representing Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa Federal Constituency of Bauchi State. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Law from the United Kingdom and had been the chairman of House Committee on Customs during which he insisted that the revenue generating agency must remit some specific amount into the federal treasury as part of measures designed by the House to increase the drive by the government for revenue generation.

Dogara, unlike others, is a Christian, a factor that might affect his being favoured in the event that religion is used as a factor for determining who gets the slot at the end. Meanwhile, crisis is imminent in the camp of the opposition in the House, as some prominent members are gearing up for a face-off over who becomes the leader of the opposition in the parliament.

It was gathered that the plot to retain the position by the incumbent, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) from Lagos might have ignited the disagreement in the fold of the opposition.
There were propositions that the position be taken out of Lagos in the interest of justice and equity.

-Sunwp_posts