by Uchechukwu Okoroafor, Abuja
What could have become an untidy affair was sanitized by the President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) when the party leadership decided to zone the key leadership positions ahead of the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly.
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The party in its wisdom zoned the Senate President position to South South, Deputy Senate President to North West and Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives to North West and South East respectively.
And in the South South, the former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio was chosen to occupy the Senate President seat, while Senator Barau Jibrin was picked for Deputy Senate President. And in the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abass was anointed for the Speaker position while Benjamin Kalu was picked for Deputy Speaker. One thing all these proposed leaders of the 10 National Assembly have in common is their excellent leadership qualities.
Like every contested position, there will always be those who would be unhappy about the outcome. Some who were not chosen have threatened to challenge the nominees of the President-elect and NWC of the APC, while others have mobilized civil society organisations to protest against the APC choice. Some of the such sponsored groups recently displayed their ignorance when they claimed that Hon Benjamin Kalu is not the choice of South East. But it was clear that their statement was sponsored to distract Benjamin Kalu, a lawmaker that most Nigerians had wished he was the anointed for the speakership position.
It is however refreshing to see the Coalition of Abia Stakeholders holding solidarity rally at the gate of the National Assembly in support of the zoning arraignment released by the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the presiding officers in the National Assembly.
The procession was made up of politicians, market women, students and members of the Inter-party Advisory Council (IPAC) from Abia State, who insisted that they stand by the zoning arrangements of the APC. The convener of the coalition who also contested for the Abia State House of Assembly in the last election, Hon Dike Uche, said they stand by the position of the party.
They emphasized that the party is supreme and that they stand by the decision of the party, saying even though they wanted the office of the speaker for the South East, but the party is supreme and that they would abide by the party’s decision.
They observed that as a matter of fact, among all the members that are in the present House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu has distinguished himself and as the Spokesman of the House in the past four years he had delivered and that it would have been better to make him the speaker but because the party is supreme, and had offered the position of deputy speaker to him they have no choice but to support the decision of the party.
The Coalition of Abia Stakeholders comprising NANS, IPAC, Market Women and other organizations who have been following the proceedings at the National Assembly know that Ben Kalu can be the speaker.
They noted that even as deputy speaker, Nigerians will know that he is capable and therefore called on all members-elect to ensure they return Ben Kalu as the deputy speaker.
They said the elections are over and that the President-elect is not coming to govern those who voted for him, but would govern those who voted for him and those who did not vote for him, adding that what they want are credible leaders even at the National Assembly.
They insisted that, whether the President-elect got a vote in the South East or not, they want the deputy speakership position and that Hon Benjamin Kalu is the man for the job, adding that ordinarily, they would have wanted Benjamin Kalu to be the speaker, but since the party said Kalu should start from the deputy speaker’s office they are okay with it.
Recall that recently, a South East youth-based organisation, Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL) had rejected the micro-zoning of the position of deputy speaker of the House of Representatives to the South East.
Reacting to the development, COSEYL, in a press release signed by the president-general and publicity secretary, Hon Goodluck Ibem and Comrade Okey Nwaoru, respectively, stressed that it was insulting to zone such a position to the South East. The group also submitted that Kalu still has his victory being contested and cannot represent the Igbo nation.
According to them, while the political goal and aspiration of Ndigbo are beyond the post of the Senate President, they cannot identify with Benjamin Kalu, not to talk of endorsing him to represent the political interest of the entire South East as a federal parliamentarian holding the post of the deputy speaker.
“For emphasis, the Igbo are a major ethnic group in Nigeria, also one of the tripodal arrangements upon which the nation itself stands. We cannot be reduced to the background by the APC-led Federal Government, no matter the scheming or agenda.
“How can a region like the South East, with its homogeneous makeup, be relegated, when it comes to sharing the spoils, if not for the phobia APC has about the Igbo nation, which the party has continued to uphold?
“The post of a deputy speaker is beneath the political aspiration of Ndigbo and we reject and shall continue to resist it. We call on well-meaning sons and daughters of Igboland to disregard the endorsement of Benjamin Kalu.”
The group further condemned the APC zoning arrangement, saying, “This charade by the APC is an insult to the political sensibility of Ndigbo, and we reject it in its entirety, no matter those behind it, and will continue to reject it.”
They explained that if Hon Kalu was given the deputy speakership position, he would still lose it because the circumstances of his emergence are now being contested after he garnered more votes from his federal constituency than what the presidential candidate of APC got in the entire South East region.
All the argument of the so-called Coalition of South East Youth Leaders fell flat on the facts they presented. One thing was certain they are not members of the APC in the South East. The APC in the South East are solidly behind Kalu and this was demonstrated by their solidarity rally in Abuja. There is no debate that Kalu is the most qualified for the position allocated to South East. This group ought to have known that most elected officials from the 2023 general election have their victory being challenged in court, including the President-elect. It is therefore infantile to suggest that Hon Benjamin Kalu should not take the position of Deputy Speaker because his victory at the polls is being challenged by those he defeated in his federal constituency. Hon Kalu and others anointed by the party are unstoppable either from the home front or from their colleague lawmakers-elect in Abuja.
Already media reports indicate that a break-away faction of the minority caucus of the members-elect of the House of Representatives has backed Tajudeen Abbas and Ben Kalu as speaker and deputy speaker, respectively, confirming a division in the caucus. The decision was contained in a communique issued following a meeting of the faction of the opposition group at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja. Idu Igariwey, a ranking PDP member from Ebonyi State, and Alhassan Rurum, a member of the NNPP from Kano State, signed the communique.
“That in furtherance of our resolve to play a leading role in the formation of the leadership of the 10th Assembly and as a result of our diligent interactions with all aspirants for the position of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, we hereby resolve to support the duo of the Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas and Rt. Hon Benjamin Kalu, respectively as Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. “That we have found in the two persons of Tajudeen Abbas and Benjamin Kalu, a leadership that will allow for fairness and equity as well as provide an equal platform for all political parties represented in Parliament to have a say in the running of the legislature and expression of alternate views on issues of public interest.” Need we say more? The Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas and Rt. Hon Benjamin Kalu leadership of the 10th House of Representatives approved by President-elect Bola Tinubu and the APC’s National Working Committee has come to stay.