Speakership: PDP Deploys Govs, Mulikat is Favourite

By Chuks Okocha and Onwuka Nzeshi in Abuja

Hon. Mulikat Akande-Adeola, House Speakership Candidate

As part of last-minute efforts to break the ranks of members of the House of Representatives working against zoning of the office of the Speaker to the South-west, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has enlisted its governors to rein in supporters of Hon. Aminu Tambuwal and enforce zoning.

This is coming as some unnamed Presidency officials and PDP are also banking on the support of new members under the aegis of the Seventh Assembly Group led by Dr. Jubrin Abdulmumin from Bebeji Federal Constituency in Kano State to toe the party’s line on the speakership.

Meanwhile, Hon. Mulikat Akande-Adeola, from Ogbomoso North/Ogbomoso South/Orire Federal Constituency (Oyo State), has emerged the front runner in the race, with Hon. Muraina Ajibola, the preferred candidate of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, fast losing ground because of Obasanjo’s links. 

THISDAY gathered that the decision to enlist the assistance of the PDP governors is because of the insistence of the Tambuwal group to contest the election to the office on June 6 when the National Assembly is inaugurated.

PDP leadership had on Tuesday met with both the members-elect and the returning members to persuade them on the need to allow the party’s decision on zoning prevail, but the meeting was deadlocked as there were no tangible decisions reached.

It was as a result of this that the party decided to invite the governors, as the political leaders of the states, to intervene and ensure that the zoning, as agreed, is followed.

According to PDP sources, the governors will use the opportunity of the planned two-day retreat starting Friday to ensure that the zoning is allowed to prevail.

“It is part of the decision that the governors of the party will meet our members-elect tomorrow or Sunday after the retreat.

“The governors know both the members-elect and the returning members very well and therefore, we expect them to talk to the members to allow the party’s decision to hold,” the source explained.

He added: “We don’t think that the members will disobey their governors, who are their leaders in their respective states.”

Apart from this, it was further gathered that the party is enlisting the support of newly elected members under the aegis of the Seventh Assembly Group to break the insistence of the old members of the House in dumping the zoning arrangement.The PDP has 108 new members, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) 53; and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) has 33. There are 233 new members across all the political parties.

According to the source, “the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Bayero Nafada, is the link man working on the newly elected members under the aegis of the Seventh Assembly members to counter the old members led by Tambuwal and Hon. Emeka Ihedioha.

An NWC member of PDP confided in THISDAY: “The party will do anything possible to ensure that its decisions on zoning are adhered to and that the party is not brought to ridicule.

“Zoning is a party decision and therefore must be obeyed. We know that there is a fifth columnist working against the zoning formula, but this is a test time for the party to ensure that there is party discipline.”

The plot by the returning members of the House of Representatives is to elect Hon. Tambuwal from Sokoto State as speaker, while Hon. Emeka Ihedioha will be elected the deputy. Hon. Ndudi Elumelu from Delta State is pencilled down as House Leader.

Also, the plan to change the newly adopted secret voting pattern of the House has been defeated as before the closure of legislative business on Thursday, the matter was not brought to the floor of the Green Chamber.

A source from the Tambuwal camp told THISDAY that should the party wield the big stick, they will comply but ensure that the anointed candidate for the office of the Speaker from the South-west is defeated.

Meanwhile, the anti-zoning elements Thursday restated their resolve not to allow any   interference in the election of the next Speaker of the House, insisting that the Presidency and the PDP must respect the independence of the legislature and adhere to the doctrine of separation of powers.

A number of lawmakers suspected to be in support of the candidature of Hon. Tambuwal renewed their opposition to the zoning formula. 

The trio of Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Ihedioha  and Tambuwal spoke strongly on the need  for the legislature  to assert its independence and protect its activities from undue interference from external forces.

Minority Whip of the House, Hon. Abdurahaman Kawu, who addressed a news conference shortly after, alleged that the House had uncovered a plan by “some undemocratic elements” to induce some of the lawmakers, particularly members-elect with huge sums of money in order to sway their choice of who becomes the next speaker.

According to Kawu, the forces wanting to interfere in the election have been claiming to be working on the directives of the Presidency.

“To actualise their dream of imposing a speaker on members, they have reserved accommodation for some of the lawmakers in choice hotels in Abuja so as to have easy access to them between now and Monday morning, which is against the conventional practice where the National Assembly management makes provisions for incoming lawmakers.

“We want to state clearly that such moves are undemocratic, unacceptable and capable of undermining the independence of the legislature and to a very large extent, rubbish the tenets of democracy.

“We want to debunk speculations that we are going to have a speaker of our choice with a view to fight the President. We want to state clearly that we are ready to work with the President and give him necessary support he would need in order to move the country forward. We also want to appeal to the President to ensure that there is a level-playing field for members of the House of Representatives to elect their leaders in line with their ethics and not through intimidation and blackmail,” Kawu said.

Akande-Adeola, the top tip for the position, is 50 years old. She was born in Kaduna State. She attended St Annas Primary School and Queen Amina College in Kaduna. She attended the College of Arts and Science in Zaria for her A’Level.

She proceeded to ABU, Zaria, in 1979, and obtained her LLB in 1982 (second class upper). She attended the Nigeria Law School in Lagos where she obtained her BL. She obtained a Master’s at Law in 1985

She has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2007.