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  • On APC’s near fall in Kano

    SIR: There was a huge sigh of relief in certain quarters of Kano when APC finally won the supplementary governorship election on March 23, after a rerun in 28 out of the state’s 44 Local Government Areas. Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje won the election to secure a second term after receiving a total of 1,033,659 votes, beating PDP’s Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf with a margin of 9,210 votes.

    On February 23, APC beat PDP in Kano, giving President Muhammadu Buhari over 2.4 million votes and winning all three Senate seats and 24 for the House of Representatives. It was a clear victory that was incontestable, and no complaint emanated from opposition parties. The governorship and state assembly elections on March 9 were however a different story. By whatever means, the PDP won some state assembly seats and gave the state governor a good run for his money. What could have accounted for this shocking result?

    Some observers however attributed PDP’s performance to absence of the Buhari factor. Others ascribed it to the dollar scandal that had rocked Governor Ganduje – thanks to his enemies. Yet others thought it was the political prowess of former governor Rabiu Kwankwaso. Buhari factor really played a significant role in APC’s victory in Kano. And after his victory many people didn’t care to vote again. The dollar videos indeed also affected Ganduje negatively. But if Kwankwaso’s popularity couldn’t help PDP in the first elections, how could it in the second?

    It really didn’t. Recall that PDP was forcefully taken over by the Kwankwasiyya apostle last year which he refashioned along a particular line of thought. Some followers of the group, which operates in a cult-like manner, are known to be political schemers who know how to win elections either fairly or otherwise. Some of these veteran schemers were allegedly unleashed to by all means win the elections for PDP on March 9.

    However, live coverage by FM stations exposed some of unwarranted behaviors of some politicians that day. As one of those who listened to the radio all day, we heard how women were mobilized and bribed with amounts ranging from a paltry N20 to N5000. How items like cooked rice and beans, a local snack called “awara,” sachets of pure water were distributed to induce voters. Some reports alleged several cases of multiple voting, as voter cards purchased from poor voters were issued in various centers to supporters of a particular party. The schemers allegedly connived with compromised INEC staff who allowed their supporters to vote repeatedly.

    We also heard how rowdiness was deliberately caused by youths who realized their party was losing, how they broke or snatched ballot boxes leading to cancellation of votes at some polling units. Vote buying was also so rampant and on a scale unprecedented in Kano history. Seeing what was happening and to earn money, some women were also reported to have declared their votes for sale and gathered in groups waiting for buyers.

    It was under this circumstance that PDP produced the good result. And if truth must be told both parties are suspected to have rigged the election, the first during the election proper and the other after realizing it was done for. In any case, hasn’t rigging become the normal way of winning elections in Nigeria today?

    So after realizing it was taken unawares and beaten by foul means, the other side decided to get even. After all, a desperate problem required a desperate solution. And a tit for a tat is a fair game any day. However, after seeing how grave the situation was, INEC opted to cancel results from several polling units. Thus Kano emerged among six states that had their elections declared inconclusive.

    Arguably, it was the best option that would ensure fair conclusion of the governorship election. Both parties were given another chance to prove their mettle in an atmosphere that was conducive. That APC finally won the rerun governorship election proved that it is the dominant party in the state. With all the 27 National Assembly seats and 27 out of 40 state House Assembly seats in its kitty, APC is definitely the majority party in Kano.

    It would therefore have been unfair and a situation that is prone to conflict if a minority party with only 13 members in the state assembly had won the governorship. This was a party that was deserted like a plague by virtually all its prominent stalwarts. They were people who could have used their influence in localities to make PDP win some seats genuinely.

     

    • Ado Umar Muhammad, Kano.

  • Politics of penkelemesi

    The participation of Adebayo Adelabu of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the last gubernatorial election in Oyo State enlivened the contest, as the campaigns in the election brought out fond memories of the politics of his grandfather, the late Alhaji Gbadamosi Adegoke Adelabu popularly known in his political days as ‘Penkelemesi’. The late Adelabu, who died at the peak of his political life in 1958, was an enigma and a political colossus who because of his hold on the politics of the old Western Nigeria was known as the ‘Lion of the West’.

    First of all, it is instructive to look into how he got the appellation ‘Penkelemesi’ which is the Yoruba adulteration of the English phrase ‘Peculiar mess’. One source believed that he was given the name ‘peculiar mess’ by one of his teachers at the Government College Ibadan.  It was alleged that the name stuck even after leaving the college and when he entered politics later in life, his adoring numerous fans who were mostly illiterate people yorubalised the nickname to ‘Penkelemesi’. The second source said he got the appellation after addressing a campaign rally at Ibadan where he described the Action Group programmes as peculiar mess which the illiterate supporters and drummers at campaign rally turned to ‘ penkelemesi’. Whatever source is correct, the late Adelabu got stuck with the appellation throughout his political life and because of the popularity of the appellation, his grandson in the last election cultivated and used the appellation in his campaigns.

    Adelabu was not an ordinary politician. Although diminutive, he was restless, very energetic and cerebral with admirable eloquence in Yoruba and English languages. His record in Government College would ever remain unbeaten. According to his classmate the late Chief AyoRosiji, Adelabu spent three years for a six-year course at the secondary school where he was the head boy in his last year.  After his secondary school education, he went to Yaba Higher College on scholarship. He spent only six months in this college and left to take up a job with UAC whose manager was very impressed with his brilliance. He later became assistant manager with the company which he left in 1937 to form his own business which failed and this made him to return again to UAC as a manager. He finally left the UAC as a manager in 1945 to be involved in Ibadan local politics.

    Adelabu’s main foray into party politics started with his membership of Ibadan People’s Party (IPP) which was a party formed by a group of young and middle-aged Ibadan citizens  in opposition to Ibadan Citizens Council (ICC). Other members of IPP were  A.M.A. Akinloye  the then  dashing young lawyer who served as the president, Moyosore Aboderin, Chief D.T. Akinbiyi, S.O. Lanlehin, and S. A. Akinyemi. Adelabu served as the secretary of the IPP. All these people contested the 1951 Western Nigeria Regional Assembly under the platform of IPP and won. All of them except Adelabu pitched their tents with the Action Group party led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo while Adelabu pitched his political tent with the NCNC led by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. This singular act of Akinloye and his group enabled the Action Group under Chief Awolowo to form the first regional government at Ibadan. From this time on, the battle line was drawn. Adelabu became a thorn in the flesh of Chief Awolowo and the Action Group party.

    At the 1954 federal elections, Adelabu campaigned vigorously for his party in Yoruba speaking part of Western Nigeria.  In his campaign rallies, he criticized vehemently the free education and free health schemes of the Action Group government which were to be financed by the capitation tax of 10 shillings levied on every taxable adult in the region. He and his party, the NCNC convinced the electorates that the tax was an unnecessary burden. In his campaigns, he also capitalized on the then age-long enmity between the Ibadan people and the Ijebu people with the aim of preventing Ibadan people from voting for the Action Group led by Awolowo, an Ijebu man. His tactics worked as the NCNC won the 1954 federal elections in Western Region with 23 seats to Action Group 19 seats.

    After the federal elections, Adegoke Adelabu was made the Federal Minister of Social Services in Lagos and at the same time he was the chairman of Ibadan District Council. He held these powerful posts from January 1955 till January 1956. He became a very influential member of his party the NCNC, as he was elected as the first national vice-president, a post next only to that of the president of the party, Dr. Azikiwe.  This was the high point of Adelabu’s political career.

    As far back as 1952, he has shown his brilliant political thought and cerebral prowess through a book titled ‘Africa in Ebullition ‘ with a foreword by his party leader, Dr.Azikiwe.  However, after the report of the administrative inquiry set up by the Action Group government into the corruption allegations in the Ibadan District Council headed by Adelabu came out and he was found guilty, Adelabu was forced to resign as a federal minister and chairman of Ibadan District Council.  He was replaced by the flamboyant Chief J. M. Johnson who was then another member of the House of Representatives from Ibadan.

    The inquiry which damned the integrity of Adelabu did not put him down as it did not make any dent on his popularity among the people, instead he became more popular. His fame spread among the people in all the towns and villages in the old Western Region as he faced many court cases brought against him by the government as a result of his political antics which in some cases were not conducted in lawful manners.  He won these cases with the help of a renowned British lawyer called Dingle Foot who was hired for him by his party. By 1956, he was not holding any political office and he used his time to mobilize not only the Ibadan people but also the people of the present Oyo and Osun states for the 1956 regional assembly elections which he confidently thought he would win and take over from Chief Obafemi Awolowo as the Premier of Western Region. This was not to be as the Action Group won the elections by winning 48 seats to NCNC 32 seats. The Action Group victory was made possible by its winning of all the seven seats in Osun division and all the five seats in Ekiti division. This electoral feat in Osun was due to the political influence of the late Chief S. L. Akintola the then deputy leader of the party, while the victory in Ekiti division could be attributed to the influence of the late ChiefOduola Osuntokun of Oke Imesi and that of Chief Babatola of Ado Ekiti.

    The election was a disappointment to Adelabu. He was expecting to be the premier, but instead he became the leader of the opposition in the new House of Assembly. However, he led a formidable opposition in the house which was the strongest not only in Nigeria but in the whole of West Africa sub region. Unfortunately, the sun set for the this promising and brilliant politician on March 25, 1958 when he died in a motor accident at Ode Remo in the present Ogun State on his way from Lagos in the company of a Syrian business man Younan who curiously did not die in the accident.

    At the last gubernatorial election in Oyo State, his grandson Adebayo Adelabu of APC was defeated by Seyi Makinde of the PDP. He got 357,182 votes while Makinde got 515, 621 votes. Why is it that Bayo Adelabu could not use his grandfather’s name for political advantage in Oyo State where his grandfather was lionized in the fifties? To me the simple answer is that the political scenes have changed from what we had in the fifties when Adelabu operated. Also,  the close political lieutenants  of the late Adelabu like Mojeed Agbaje, Adeoye Adisa, Lekan  Salami, Ade  Bello  and J. M. Johnson  when they were alive did little or nothing to sustain his political legacy and so the legacy unfortunately faded in the memory of the people with time. It is gratifying to note that nowadays, annual lectures are occasionally being organized in his memory. I remember attending the first one given in his honour by the former Governor of Oyo State, Dr. Victor Olunloyo and the second one by the literary guru, the late Professor Akinwunmi Isola. There is also now an Adegoke Adelabu Foundation which one hopes would sustain his legacy. May the soul of Alhaji Gbadamosi Adegoke Adelabu alias ‘Penkelemesi’ rest in perfect peace. We do not have his type in the present political firmament of our country.

     

    • Professor Lucas writes from Old Bodija, Ibadan.

  • APC’s position on Lawan in line with global parliamentary best practices, says group

    A Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), led by Centre for Policy Advocacy and Leadership Development (CPALD), has thrown its weight behind the choice of Senate Leader Ahmed Lawan for the next Senate.

    The group described Lawan’s adoption by the All Progressives Congress (APC) as in line with global parliamentary best practices.

    In a statement signed by the Director, Democracy and Governance of CPALD, Comrade Joe Mesele, the CSOs expressed their support for the APC’s stance on Lawan’s candidature, declaring that there was nothing wrong with it.

    The statement reads: “We have watched with keen interest for some weeks now debates as to the proprietary of the leadership of the APC in nominating Senator Ahmed Lawan as its candidate for the President of the Senate of the Ninth Assembly.

    Read also: On APC’s near fall in Kano

    “We at the CPALD alongside 10 of our sister civil society organisations hereby unequivocally state that we are on the same page in advancing the course of democracy in Nigeria and, therefore, view the development as a welcome development because it’s in line with international parliamentary best practices.

    “We have studied parliamentary developments in several advanced democracies and came to the conclusion that the leadership of those parliaments are usually members with the requisite cognate experience – usually leaders of the ruling party’s caucuses. And right now in Nigeria, the leader of the APC caucuses in the Senate is Lawan.

    “He is, therefore, without sentiments, eminently qualified to hold the position. The people criticising the APC for taking the position of supporting Senator Ahmed Lawan are simply ignorant of parliamentary  ethics and norms the world over.

    “We are calling on other stakeholders to align with the initiative of the APC in order to flow along with international norms and procedures in the election of the leadership of parliaments”.

  • Anambra APC to tribunal: nullify APGA’s victory in Idemili South

    The All Progressives Congress ( APC ), has urged the Anambra Election Petitions Tribunal, sitting in Awka to nullify the election of Mr Chukwuka Ezenwune of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) as winner of Idemili South constituency.

    Ezenwune was declared winner of the March 9 state assembly election for Idemili South constituency by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    But Mr Bona Orakwe, of the APC in his petition, marked EPT/AN/SHA/35/2019, contended that the APGA candidate did not score the highest number of lawful votes.

    Joined as respondents are APGA, INEC, Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) and Returning Officer for the local government area.

    The petitioner contended that the APGA candidate did not score lawful majority votes cast in the election and therefore should not have been returned as winner.

    Read Also: Ambode hails Lagosians for remaining steadfast with APC

    Ezenwune scored 10, 710 votes, ahead of the second-placed Mr Frank Okigbo of People Democratic Party who scored 4,071, while Orakwe garnered 3,210 votes to come third in the contest.

    Orakwe said the election was marred with irregularities and substantial non-compliance to the Electoral Act, which affected the result declared by INEC.

    He contended that he scored the highest number of lawful votes cast and should be declared the winners or in the alternative nullify the election held on March 9 and order for fresh poll.

  • APC’s victory must stand, says Ogun ex-commissioner

    Former Ogun State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Hon. Muyiwa Oladipo has said that the Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM), governorship candidate in the just-concluded governorship and houses of assembly elections, Abdulkabir Adekunle Akinlade, should have accepted defeat.

    He said Akinlade should have “accepted defeat in good faith and submit to the will of the people as the election of governor-elect Prince Dapo Abiodun by the people stands and nobody will upturn the election by any means, whether legal or illegal.”

    Oladipo explained that the election of Abiodun as governor-elect was the freest and most rancour-free in the history of the state as adjudged by various national and international observers who witnessed the election and gave the appraisal to the electoral body who conducted the election.

    In a statement signed by the former Commissioner in reaction to an interview granted a media outfit in Abeokuta, challenging the result of the election at the tribunal by the APM, Oladipo said Akinlade’s reactions on the election indicated that he was still suffering from defeat.

    Read also: PDP blackmailing Supreme Court, APC alleges

    He added that the APM and its candidate were yet to advance any concrete argument to discredit the election rated as most peaceful, saying that “their attempt to heat up the polity and create unnecessary tension through their unguarded utterances days before, during and after the election failed and were now blaming the APC for their failure.”

    In his reaction to the petition of Labour Party (LP) candidate, Mrs Modupeolu Sanyaolu, he said it was a tip of iceberg as the party has two factions in the state, saying that the two factional leaders have congratulated the governor-elect, including their governorship candidate.

    He added that he was surprised to hear that LP has headed to the tribunal to challenge the omission of its party logo on the ballot paper, noting that the party led by Comrade Abayomi Arabambi who double as Chairman of Intra-party Advisory Council (IPAC), has congratulated the leader of the party in the state, Olusegun Osoba and the governor-elect.

    He said the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Prof. AbdulGaniy Raji, also expressed his surprise in the petition of Labour Party at the tribunal, adding that it’s supposed to have pre-empted the process before going to polls, which would have been addressed before the election.

    “There is no moral standing for LP to now file petition before the tribunal. As it is now, it is very clear that LP has no locus standi in initiating any petition before the tribunal and all efforts to truncate the election that produced Prince Dapo Abiodun will not stand,” Oladipo quoted.

    Oladipo said the party has once congratulated the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its governor-elect, Prince Dapo Abiodun on their victory at the election. But it was a surprise when the same party filed application at the tribunal, challenging the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for its logo’s omission at the polls.

  • Appeal Court reverses sack of Niger East Senator, Umaru

    The Court of Appeal in Abuja has reversed the judgment of a Federal High Court in Abuja, which sacked Senator David Umaru as the All Progressives Congress’ (APC’s) candidate for the Niger East senatorial seat.

    The Federal High Court had, in a February 7, 2019 judgment, declared Muhammed Sani Musa as the validly nominated candidate for the seat, a decision appealed by Umaru, the current Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters Committee.

    In a unanimous judgment of a three-man panel, the Court of Appeal upheld the appeal by Umaru and dismissed the objection filed by Musa.

    In the lead judgment by Justice Stephen Adah, the Court of Appeal voided the certificate of return issued to Musa by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    The appellate court, in the judgment given on Monday, agreed with the appellant that the trial court erred in law to have assumed jurisdiction over the suit brought by Musa and granted the reliefs sought.

    READ ALSO: Breaking: Court sacks Sen Committee Chair, Umaru as APC candidate

    The Appeal Court held that the suit filed at the lower court was statute barred and caught up by section 285(9) of the 4th alteration Act of the 1999 constitution, therefore, the trial court lacked the requisite jurisdiction to have entertained it.

    The court also held that the suit was not filed within the mandatory 14 days period after the cause of action, as provided for by section 285 (9) of the 1999 constitution.

    “The suit was caught up by the prescribed constitutional time limit of 14 days having been predicated on the event that took place on the 2nd October, 2018. The originating summons was dated and filed on October 26, 2018 while the subject matter of the suit centred on the event of October 2, 2018,” Justice Adah held.

    Musa had, in his objection, challenged the appeal on the grounds that the appellant had no locus standi to have filed the appeal without the name of his political party, the APC.

    He equally argued that the appeal has become an academic exercise since the election had been conducted and a winner had emerged.

     

     

  • Zone Deputy Senate President to South-East, Kalu begs APC

    The Senator-elect for Abia North, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, Monday pleaded with the leadership of the All Progressive Congress (APC) to zone the position of Deputy Senate President to the South East geo-political zone.

    Kalu who made the appeal at the ongoing induction of Senators-elect and House of Representatives members-elect noted that zoning the Deputy Senate President to the South East will be in line with the diversity of the country.

    The diversity of the country, he said, is the beauty of the country.

    He said that APC as a party should look at diversity, because “diversity is our strength.”

    He said, “I am a very loyal party man. The party has already zoned the position of Senate President. I can never disobey the party. The party is supreme.

    “What I am asking the party to zone the deputy Senate President to the South East, so that I will not disobey the party by going on the floor of the House, which I have the capacity, if I am allowed to do that.

    “What I am asking the party as they have zoned this position of Senate President to North East, they should as well zone the position of the deputy Senate President to South East. So that I don’t go to contest out of zone.

    “I can contest against whoever comes from the South East or the caucus of the South East can go back and decide what the part wants within the South East.

    “What I am pleading with the leaders of the National Working Committee and other leaders, let us not divide this party. All of us are loyal to the country. We are loyal to the constitution. We are also loyal to our party. I want that loyalty to continue, so that none of us will deviate from what the party”

    “On relationship between the Executive and legislature, Kalu noted that it has to be very cordial in the interest of the progress of the country.

    He said, “President Buhari means well. And some of us who with or without politics we are his friends, we will like to keep the place very stable.

    “Not only for him, but for the good of the country. The President is just one person. If there is stability in the Senate and Executive, there will be stability in the country. We are for the stability of the country.

    Read Also: Zone Deputy Senate President to South-East, Kalu tells APC

    On the position of Senator Kabiru Gaya that the slot of Deputy Senate President should be zoned to the North West Kalu said:

    “You know, he is a senior governor. That is his view. It is not a view that represents the views and understanding of the country. He is a man I respect a lot. But his view does not represent the diversity of the country.

    “Even if you like take the President, Vice President, Speaker, Senate President to one part of the country, you have not solved the problem of the country.

    “The diversity of the country is the beauty of the country. I will like APC as a party to look at diversity. Diversity is our strength. Diversity is very important.

    “I don’t want to formally declare anything until the party zones to our zone. I am not going to challenge the party, but I want the party to do the right thing. I have the capacity to go on the floor of the House and contest. It is this people here that will vote and they are our friends. But I want the party to do the right thing.”

  • Senate Presidency: erring senators risk expulsion from APC

    If the All Progressives Congress (APC) embraces Senator Abu Ibrahim’s suggestion, senators who go against the party’s decision on the choice of the next Senate President will be expelled.

    The Katsina South senator spoke with reporters in Abuja.

    Ibrahim, who is Chairman, Senate Committee on Labour and Productivity, noted that in democracy, “once any one chooses a party, you must abide by the rules of that party at all times or leave”.

    In his view, there will be no need for individuals who disobey the party to remain because “that is an act of indiscipline which no party should condone”.

    The senator said: “First of all, we have to remind ourselves that it is a political party which gives an individual the ticket to participate in an election. Once such a ticket is given, it is the caucus of the party in the National Assembly that will determine the emergence of a candidate that eventually become the leader of the Senate through voting.

    “Specifically, the party decides which zone should produce candidate for the position and when such decision is taken every member must abide by that decision. No one can come out of a caucus meeting’s voting to say he would not accept the decision of the party on such election process.

    “As a loyal party member, anyone who dares the party’s decision and come out to connive with PDP to truncate the decision of the party will be expelled from the party.

    “As a matter of fact, if the party gives a ticket to an individual and he/she is assisted with resources to contest and win election, the person must naturally obey the rules of the party at all times.

    “In democracy, once you choose a party, you must abide by the rules of that party at all times or else you leave. There will be no need for individuals who disobey the party’s decision and remain in such a party.   That is an act of indiscipline, which no party should condone.”

    Asked if APC could reach out to PDP senators to seek support for its candidate, Ibrahim said: “You see, there is no need to reach out to the opposition minority members because APC, as a party, has a clear majority to decide straight away who should become Senate President.

    Read also: Oyo APC will bounce back, says Ajimobi’s wife

    “PDP, as a party, played this game for the whole 16 years when it was in power between 1999 and 2015.  All the PDP members, who are now talking today, including Senators Abaribe, James Manager, Ekweremadu and others, know the rules of this game.

    “It is sheer mischief, greed and a great insult for any PDP member to now claim that every member in the National Assembly has a right to contest. This is not done anywhere in the world. Not in U.K, U.S.A or anywhere else.

    “David Mark was Senate President between 2007 and 2015 when his party was in power and the majority party in Senate. Nobody from the opposition parties contested along with him. Now he thinks numerical strength does not matter again but it did when he was the Senate President. What an absurdity.

    “The leadership of the National Assembly now belongs exclusively to APC in the two chambers because the party has a clear majority and does not have to consult the opposition members to pick its principal officers. It is never done anywhere in the world and it will not be done this time around.

    “The minority leadership in the National Assembly is there for the PDP to choose their leaders. No one is interfering with them in choosing their leadership.

    “No one from APC will go there and contest to be a member, so why should anyone from PDP want to contest for majority leadership position?   Well, it happened the last time in 2015 when Senator Ekweremadu contested the position of the deputy Senate President. He clearly undermined the APC in that exercise but this time around no one can try that and succeed.”

  • ‘We’ll follow the rules’

    All Progressives Congress (APC) National Publicity Secretary Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu has said the party has modalities for dealing with members that goes against its Constitution.

    “I think you should avail yourself with the party constitution. It has procedures for handling such things. A member is just making suggestion and you do not expect the party to go against its own rules,” he said.

    Article 21 of the party’s constitution identifies offences against the party to include: anti-party activities or any conduct which is likely to embarrass or have adverse effect on the party, or bring the party into hatred, contempt, ridicule or disrepute; disobedience or negligence in carrying out lawful directives of the party and any act of impersonation of party offices or it’s holders.”

    Read also: Why we lost some of our states, by APC

    It also lists as offence, flouting the rules, regulations and decisions of the party, engaging in dishonest practices, thuggery, continuously being absent from meetings to which he or she is invited without reasonable cause, carrying out anti-party or other activities which tend to disrupt the peaceful, lawful and efficient organisation of the party or which are inconsistent with the aims and objectives of the party.

    Article 21(d) however states punishment for members found guilty to include reprimand, censure, fine, debarment from holding party office, removal from office, suspension from the party and expulsion from the party, among others.

    It also states that “where it is proposed to expel a member of the executive committee, political office holder or a member of a legislative house from membership of the party, such a proposal shall be submitted to the National Executive Committee (NEC) which after deliberation on the matter, may confirm or reject the proposal”.

    Issa-Onilu said that in all cases, the party will be guided by its own rules and will not do anything out side the laws.

  • Why we’re sticking to Gbajabiamila on House leadership, by Kaduna Rep

    HOUSE of Representatives Garba Datti Mohammad has backed the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership on zoning the leadership of the Ninth House.

    Mohammad, a ranking member in the Green Chamber from Sabon Gari Federal Constituency, Kaduna State spoke with The Nation.

    According to the APC lawmaker, the leader of the House, Femi Gbajabiamiila ordinarily should have been elevated to the position of Speaker without any fuss.

    He said: “That is because it’s the normal convention in all democracies of the world. The majority party will always constitute the leadership and whoever is the head of that party in parliament that has the majority party automatically becomes the presiding officer.

    “It happened in recent time. Just last November, after the midterm election in the United States (U.S.), Nancy Pelosky became the Speaker. She was the Minority Leader but once they (her party) became the Majority, she automatically became the Speaker.

    “And this is the second term she has emerged as the Speaker; not even through election! It was just automatic. There was no election, although we have some slight differences in our constitution.

    “To me, the decision of the party leaders is right. These (Gbajabiamiila and Lawan) are two leaders that have done a lot for this party, so they deserve to lead.”

    On the argument of the Northcentral lawmakers that they contributed more to the emergence of the President through their number of votes, he said: “Well, anybody can argue whatever he wants to argue but the hard fact is, these are our leaders and we have majority now, so automatically they should take over because they have never been found wanting in their positions.

    “They have played very vital roles. Like Femi, he has been in the leadership since 2007 as Minority Whip, Minority Leader to Majority Leader and he has performed wonderfully well.

    “Then you can never take away experience in this system; competence, experience, doggedness, everything you are looking for; and he has paid his dues, so, to me, there is no issue.”

    Read also: House of Reps Speaker: Kano legislators endorse Gbajabiamila

    Speaking on the position of some PDP lawmakers that Gbajabiamiila can never be their Speaker, he said: “The minority can always have its say; the majority will always have its way! You can say whatever you want, the only thing is to try and unite as a party. Once we unite, PDP has no mouth to talk.

    “They cannot decide who becomes the presiding officer. They can decide who becomes the Minority Leader and the Minority Whip but they cannot decided the Speaker; that is if we put our house in order. I don’t think there will be much problem,” he said.

    He agreed that the party should call some of the aspirants to order, Mohammed said:  “Yes. I think the party has started doing that. I know of a person that even the president himself talked to him. I know of another person who his governor will talk to him either today or tomorrow to step down.

    “So, I am sure we will have it right when the chips are down. Some are just flying kites, some are serious and some are not serious. We know that.”