{"id":403160,"date":"2011-04-27T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-04-27T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/04\/27\/big-guns-begin-fight-for-house-leadership\/"},"modified":"2011-04-27T23:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-04-27T23:00:00","slug":"big-guns-begin-fight-for-house-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/27\/big-guns-begin-fight-for-house-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"Big guns begin fight for House leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

In the first week of June, President Goodluck Jonathan will inaugurate the next national assembly and new leaderships of the two chambers are expected to emerge soon after. Ahead of that momentous event, members-elect have commenced scheming to clinch the various positions. Our correspondent looks into the intrigues that are unfolding.<\/p>\n

Following the losses and gains that emerged from the national assembly elections of April 9 and the concluding part of the elections which were held alongside the governorship elections on Tuesday, newly elected and re-elected members of the National Assembly have commenced covert and overt campaign to occupy leadership positions in both the Red and Green chambers.<\/p>\n

In the case of the Senate, the incumbent senate president David Mark and his deputy Ike Ekweremadu have won their seats to return to the Red Chamber, thus putting them in the forefront of the race for the coveted seats. The case is, however, different in the lower chamber where Speaker Dimeji Bankole and his deputy Usman Bayaro Nafada failed in their bids to return to the Green Chamber. Their exit at this point has thus opened vacancies which were not expected prior to the primary elections of the PDP.<\/p>\n

There were feelers the Presidency and the ruling People\u2019s Democratic Party (PDP) had reached agreement with the leadership of the two chambers to return the presiding officers back to their respective positions in June this year when a new parliament would have been inaugurated. This is in return for their \u2018loyalty and service\u201d\u00a0 to the\u00a0 party and the presidency, especially for ensuring that all bills and motions that favoured the president were passed while those considered inimical to their collective interests were dumped somewhere in the shelves.<\/p>\n

It was said that the party and MPs reached an accord that at least 2\/3rd of the MPs would be given automatic return tickets so that the MPs would drop the controversial clause in the proposed amendment to the Electoral Act which sought to make the lawmakers automatic members of the National Executive Committees of their various political parties. The MPs were said to have agreed and deleted that clause from the bill just as state governors sent foreboding signals and threats that would have deepened the internal crisis within the party.<\/p>\n

Secondly, the MPs under the leadership of David Mark and Bankole acceded to the request from the presidency and re-amended the Electoral Act and provided for a \u201cspecial national convention\u201d in Abuja\u00a0 to elect the presidential candidate of all political parties, thereby setting aside the earlier provision which stipulated that presidential primary elections would take place in the 36 state capitals and FCT while the Abuja convention would only serve to ratify the result.<\/p>\n

However, after the MPs had delivered their own part of the deal, both the presidency and the PDP appeared to have reneged because over 70 per cent of the lawmakers failed to get return tickets after the January primaries. Even many of those who got their tickets in the PDP could not pull through the general election. This is particularly so with members from the South West, most of whom were swept away by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).<\/p>\n

Daily Trust learnt the initial agreement, though unwritten, was that Mark, Bankole and Ekweremadu would retain their positions in the new parliament. But as it is now, the political calculation appears to have changed and there are at least two groups of members elect meeting and strategising to push forward a candidate for Speaker. Daily Trust also learnt that the top brass among those who have been re-elected have commenced scheming for leadership positions in the next Assembly, with at least three camps operating underground for now.<\/p>\n

In the blocs currently working to produce the House leadership, there are pro-zoning members. This group is said to be counting on the PDP leadership to zone the leadership positions of the House in the direction that will favour them.\u00a0 Feelers from the PDP indicate that the party might have zoned the position of speaker to the South East. The South West which presently occupies the seat of speaker seems to be out of the calculation for now. Already, House Chief Whip Emeka Ihedioha (PDP, Imo), Bethel Amadi (PDP, Imo) and Ezuche Ubani (PDP, Abia) have commenced serious campaigns among elected MPs. Last week, Ihedioha was said to have held series of meetings with returning MPs in Abuja and he seems to be in the lead among his brothers because of his latest status as a \u2018ranking member\u2019 who is eminently qualified by the conventional rules of the house.<\/p>\n

Secondly, there is the anti-zoning group which is said to be a project of lawmakers of northern extraction. This group believes that with the emergence of Goodluck Jo-nathan as President, contrary to the zoning arrangement of the PDP which had earlier zoned the presidency to the north until 2015, the national assembly positions should be left open to all.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe PDP cannot tell us now that there is zoning because it is convenient to it. So we should be allowed to choose our leaders based on merit. We have gone far and we are mobilising,\u201d a ranking MP who does not want his name in print said.<\/p>\n

The northern MPs are banking on their numerical strength to push through their stance. They have already zoned the speakership to north-east where ranking members like Rep Yakubu Dogara (PDP, Bauchi) and Jerry Manwe (PDP, Taraba) and Rep Ishaka Mohammed Bawa (PDP, Taraba), are said to be touted for the position while the House Deputy Chief Whip Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (PDP, Sokoto) is being considered for deputy speaker.<\/p>\n

MPs from the North central are also not left out in the scheming for the next leadership as members like Emmanuel Jimeh (PDP, Benue) and Hennan Hembe (PDP, Benue)\u00a0 are said to be nursing ambition. Political analysts however, believe that their chances depend on what happens in the senate. That is if David Mark does not get re-elected. This is a 50-50 chance since he has already gone far in his re-election campaign.<\/p>\n

The southwest, however, cannot be said to be totally out of the calculation since there are at least four ranking members that were able to scale through troubled waters and got re-elected on the platform of the PDP. Such Reps include\u00a0 Muraino Ajibola (PDP, Oyo) whose Islamic background may play a role in his consideration for any leadership position.<\/p>\n

By and large, religion, party affiliation and sectional interests may play a very prominent role in the emergence of the new House leadership.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

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