Members-elect form alliance, to screen speakership aspirants
As the National Assembly resumes from Easter and Ramadan break on Tuesday, a group of members-elect of the House of Representatives will this week announce formation of another alliance ahead of the 10th Assembly inauguration.
The Press reported on Wednesday that the members-elect, drawn from across party lines, would be known as ‘The 10th Assembly Pathfinders.’
News men gathered on Saturday that initiative was aimed at screening the over 10 aspirants, including those who have yet to declare, for the office of the Speaker and endorse one of them regardless of their party or region.
The contenders include the Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Wase; Majority Leader, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa; Chairman, House Committee on Navy, Yusuf Gagdi; Chairman, Committee on Appropriations, Aliyu Betara; Chairman, Committee on Science Research Institutes, Olaide Akinremi; Chairman, Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Benjamin Kalu, and Chairman, Committee on Land Transport, Tajudeen Abbas.
One of the arrowheads of the alliance, Bamidele Salam, a member from Osun State, noted that the group would be inagugurated anytime from Tuesday.
Salam said, “As soon as the House resumes; it may not be the day of resumption because we are still doing a lot of consultations and networking. If you look at our mission statement, it is very direct and clear.
“It is not about producing leadership of the House alone, it goes beyond that. We are looking at the whole gamut of the 10th Assembly; activities, productivity and ability as an institution to drive the process of national growth. That is why this is different from the other groups.”
When reminded that some members-elect belong to multiple coalitions and alliances with conflicting goals, the lawmaker argued, “No, we will achieve our aim.”
He added, “It depends on how you look at it. This is a game of numbers. Whatever the group can contribute to the emergence of the kind of leadership that we need, it would have been an achievement.”
Members-elect of the House on the platform of opposition parties had on April 4, 2023, formed an alliance ahead of the inauguration of the 10th Assembly, with the aim of determining the leadership of the minority caucus, among others.
The members-elect had unanimously adopted the slogan, ‘10th Assembly: Greater Majority,’ at the meeting.
At the meeting were old and newly elected members from the seven opposition parties, namely the PDP, Labour Party, All Progressives Grand Alliance, Social Democratic Party, African Democratic Congress, Youth Progressive Party and New Nigeria Peoples Party.
However, another major political alliance had emerged in the House about two weeks after when a ranking member of the APC and another ranking members in the opposition PDP jointly issued a statement in Abuja to announce another group of members-elect across party lines, claiming that 283 members-elect of the House had resolved to abide by the zoning plan of the governing party.
