Tension looms among members of the House of Representatives over seemingly pressure on the leadership of the party to throw election of the Speakership position open.
At the last count, about nine members of the House, cutting across four geo-political zones, have directly or indirectly indicated interest in the position, The Nation reports.
They are Deputy Speaker Ahmed Idris Wase (Plateau-North Central); Chairman of the House Committee on Navy, Yusuf Adamu Gagdi (Plateau-North Central); Chairman House Committee on Disaster Preparedness, Abdulraheem Olawuyi (Kwara-North Central) and Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Aliyu Mukthar Betara (Borno, North East).
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Others are Chairman of the House Committee on n Media and Public Affairs, Benjamin Kalu (Abia-South East); Chairman, House Committee on Land Transport, Tajudeen Abbas (Kaduna, North West); Chairman, House Committee on Water Resources, Sada Soli (Katsina-North West); Abubakar Makki Yalleman (Jigawa-North West) and Usman Sani Jaji (Zamfara, North West).
A member-elect from the South West told The Nation that there was pressure on the party leadership to throw the contest open by those he said have deep pocket.
He said: “I can tell you that there is pressure to throw the Speakership race open. If that is done, those with deep pocket will use their money influence to pick the Speakership position.
“But right now, nobody knows what the kind of the party is. They appear to be waiting for the return of the President Elect before announcing the zoning formula for the principal officers of the National Assembly.
So far, there has been no serious contender for the position from the South West because the President and the Speaker cannot come from the same area for the sake of equity and justice.
“But for now, the odd favours either the North Central or the North West in the zoning formula. But don’t forget that the North West is also interested in the position of the Senate President, just like the South East.
“So far, there has been no serious contender for the position from the South West because the President and the Speaker cannot come from the same area for the sake of equity and justice.
“Also, we are aware that Betara who is from the North East and the same state with the Vice President Elect is also interested in the position. But his supporters are of the view that if Osinbajo and Gbajabiamila can come from the same zone, there is no reason why Betara cannot be Speaker”
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According to The Nation, it was also gathered the party is working hard to avoid a repeat of the 2015 episode when Yakubu Dogara emerged Speaker against the choice of Gbajabiamila preferred by the party.
Already, the opposition parties in the House are said to be waiting for a slip by the party to grab one of the presiding officer position in the House by teaming up with one of the candidates interested in the job.
Pending the outcome of the supplementary election scheduled for this weekend, the opposition parties have higher number of members in the House than the APC with 163 members as against APC’s 161 members elect so far.
