Assembly Chooses New House Speaker

Turaki A. Hassan

7 June 2011

The menacing presence of chieftains of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Green Chamber notwithstanding, majority of the party’s members yesterday teamed up with opposition parties’ members to elect Barrister Aminu Waziri Tambuwal from Sokoto State as Speaker of the House of Representatives in violation of the PDP’s zoning arrangement and its endorsement of Mrs. Mulikat Adeola-Akande from Oyo State for the post.

Tambuwal garnered 252 votes in the protracted election process by open-secret ballot, while Mrs. Akande got 90 votes. This means even if Tambuwal had secured all of the 150 votes of the opposition parties, at least 100 of the PDP’s 202 members defied their party and voted for him. Eight invalid votes were recorded in the election.

Top members of the ruling party had earlier stormed the green chamber of the House of Representatives ostensibly to watch the inauguration of the Seventh House, but in a desperate move to stop the emergence of Tambuwal as Speaker, an effort that had taken up most of the Presidency and the party national leaders’ time in the last 10 days. Prominent PDP leaders at the House included the Acting National Chairman Dr. Bello Halliru Mohamed, former chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees Chief Tony Anenih and the newly appointed Secretary to the Government of the Federation Senator Anyim Pius Anyim.

Also present were Governors Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa, Theodore Orji of Abia, Ibrahim Idris of Kogi and Rochas Okorocha of Imo. Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun was also there, apparently to coral ACN members to toe the party’s line and vote for Tambuwal. When the results of the election Chief Anenih and Governor Sylva unceremoniously left the Chamber before the new Speaker was sworn in by the Clerk of the National Assembly. The PDP had threatened to sanction any of its members who went against its zoning arrangement, which zoned the speaker’s post to the South West.

Eight invalid votes were recorded in the election while only one member abstained from voting as announced by the Clerk to the National Assembly, Alhaji Salisu Maikasuwa. The 252 votes polled by Tambuwal means that he got well over 2/3rd majority of the total 360 membership.

The PDP had zoned the Speakership to the South West geo-political zone where Reps Akande and Muraina Ajibola (PDP, Oyo) were contesting but Ajibola was asked by his political godfather, former president Olusegun Obasanjo, to withdraw at the eleventh hour. Similarly, Rep Emeka Ihedioha (PDP, Imo) who is a close associate of Tambuwal was also elected unopposed as the deputy Speaker of the House after Rep Friday Itulah (PDP, Edo) who was supposed to nominate the official PDP candidate Rep Isiaka Mohammed Bawa (PDP, Taraba) announced that “in the spirit of harmony in the House we have decided that there will not be contest for the position of the deputy speaker since we have more serious business to do.” The official party candidate apparently withdrew because Ihedioha, who was Chief Whip in the former House, was the candidate of Tambuwal’s faction and was certain to get elected with a similar margin.

The election had began at 12:15pm when Rep Emmanuel Jimeh (PDP, Benue) stood Rep Nnenna Elendu (PDP, Abia) seconded the nomination saying ” it is my pride, my honour, and my pleasure to be part of history today to second the nomination of Right Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal as Speaker.”

Mrs. Akande was nominated by Rep Bethel Amadi (PDP, Imo) and was seconded by Rep Hussein Namadi, PDP member from Jigawa state.

However, both Tambuwal and Ihedioha had to disguise themselves before getting entry into the chamber after they received reports that security agents had been directed by the Presidency to arrest or prevent them from entering the National Assembly complex.

Tambuwal, who usually wears a white caftan and a traditional Hausa cap, instead outfitted himself yesterday in a black suit jacket and a “resource control” black hat while Ihedioha, who is known to wear a green cap and a jacket, disguised himself yesterday in a traditional Northern babbar riga with a cap to match.

Tambuwal was smuggled into the chamber by 30 members who surrounded him and they arrived at 9:34 am. On noticing that there preferred candidate was in the chamber, a wild celebration broke out in the chamber and he was greeted with a standing ovation. Early in the morning, members were not certain whether Tambuwal and Ihedioha will make it to the chamber.

Daily Trust gathered authoritatively that the leadership of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) led by its national leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu had directed their members to vote for Tambuwal. To ensure that the ACN MPs obeyed the “order,” Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun state was seated in the chamber from 10am and left at 4:15 pm, midway into the counting of the votes, as soon as Tambuwal secured 181 votes, the simple majority required to win.

MPs from the North East who had earlier expressed strong opposition to Tambuwal’s candidature because the region was allocated the deputy Speaker’s position however made a last minute about-turn and threw their weight behind Tambuwal, thereby torpedoing the ambitions of Rep Yakubu Dogara (PDP, Bauchi) who was the official PDP candidate for the position. The party had at a meeting held at the Presidential Villa in the early hours of yesterday adopted Rep Bawa from Taraba State to replace Dogara.

PDP’s national caucus had zoned the speaker’s position to the South West as part of an overall zoning formula adopted after the presidential election, but a revolt soon erupted among House members, who insisted on asserting their independence from the Presidency and the party and in choosing what they said is an “experienced and credible” leader. They soon settled on Tambuwal, deputy chief whip in the former House, and all efforts by the Presidency and the party to reign in the rebellion collapsed yesterday.

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