Olusola Fabiyi examines the events leading to the emergence of the new Speaker of the House of Representatives, wondering how the development will affect the Peoples Democratic Party\u2019s zoning arrangement<\/span><\/p>\n The Peoples Democratic Party is the prevalent political party in Nigeria. Those who manage it also claim, with unapologetic haughtiness, that it is the biggest party in Africa. They have also not failed to say that as the ruling party in the country, it is its prerogative to decide who occupies which position among its elected officials. It was in line with this that the members of the National Working Committee of the party met recently with President Goodluck Jonathan and zoned offices to the six geo-political zones of the country. At the meeting of the party\u2019s Expanded National Caucus on May 11, its leaders unanimously agreed that the party should maintain its old zoning formula in the sharing of political offices in the National Assembly.<\/span><\/p>\n The meeting, which was held at the Presidential Villa, was also attended by the Vice-President, Alhaji Namadi Sambo; members of the PDP National Working Committee and some governors produced by the party. In the party\u2019s zoning formula, the North-Central, where the incumbent Senate President, Senator David Mark hails from, was allocated the right to fill the position. Mark has since assumed the position.<\/span><\/p>\n The South-West, where the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, comes from, was asked to produce his replacement. Bankole from Ogun State, it was gathered, would have been the natural choice of the party to return to his seat, but he lost his re-election bid as he was pitilessly defeated by the candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria during the National Assembly election. Only five members of the party returned to the House from the zone. Though the party performed weakly in the zone during the election and other elections, investigations by our correspondent showed that both Mark and Bankole had reached agreement with the leadership of the party before the general elections that they would want to return to their respective seats.<\/span><\/p>\n Unfortunately, Bankole, who is currently under investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, did not return to the House.<\/span><\/p>\n It was also gathered that the meeting agreed that the position of the National Chairman of the party, which is currently being occupied in acting capacity by Dr. Haliru Mohammed, was also zoned to the North-East. Mohammed will be expected to remain in office till March next year when the tenure of the current members of the NWC will end. Going by the party\u2019s decision, the North-East was also asked to produce the Deputy Speaker of the House.<\/span><\/p>\n In the party\u2019s wisdom, the South-East, which has been clamouring for either the office of the Senate President or the Speaker of the House of Representatives, was to produce the Deputy Senate President and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. The zone had since filled the positions allotted to it as Senator Ike Ekweremadu emerged as Mark\u2019s deputy while the President had announced the appointment of Senator Pius Anyim as the SGF. The zone got also got the office of the Deputy Speaker as members of the House defied the party\u2019s zoning formula and installed Emeka Ihedioha. In the party\u2019s zoning method, the President and his deputy were picked from the South-South and North-west respectively.<\/span><\/p>\n Before now, members of the party had at one time or the other refrained from engaging in political combat with the party as they would rather swallow their personal ambitions whenever it was in conflict with that of the party. This evidence played out when the former Governor of Gombe State, Alhaji Danjuma Goje refused to contest against Mark as the President of the Senate. Though the Senate rule had ruled him out, precedence however showed that even when the same rule that forbids newcomers to the upper legislative chambers from contesting for the Senate leadership was still in force, Senator George Akume went ahead to contest against the incumbent in 2007. Goje could have used this as a case in point to test his popularity on the floor of the Senate. But he said that as a loyal party man, he would not go against the decision of the party which had earlier endorsed Mark as its anointed candidate.<\/span><\/p>\n It was the same party that endorsed Mrs. Mulikat Akande-Adeola as the party\u2019s choice for the office of the Speaker. Mohammed, who announced this after a meeting with the governors elected on the platform of the party in Abuja on Thursday, said no member of the party must contest against the choices of the party either as senate president or the speaker. He hinged his argument of the fact that the choice of the two people were in consonance with the zoning policy of the party.<\/span><\/p>\n Specifically, Mohammed said the female lawmaker was picked because of the nation\u2019s belief in 35 per cent affirmative action on women representation. Not only that, the party, according to him was of the opinion that whenever a female and a male were locked in a contest for a political office, the women is backed in line with the party\u2019s belief in the affirmative action. Going by the party\u2019s resolution, the governors were asked to go to their zones and prevail on the elected members of the House to vote for the party\u2019s choice.<\/span><\/p>\n On the other hand, the outcome the election into the House showed that the party and its governors were alone in their decision. Backed by the majority members of the Action Congress and the Congress for Progressive Change, the rebellious members of the PDP were able to install Aminu Tambuwal as the new Speaker, even when members of the party\u2019s top hierarchy monitored the election. The voting consequently rubbished the zoning formula of the party. It also turned into shreds the arguments by the part that the North should not appropriate all other political positions, except the presidency. With the election of Tambuwal, the North now has the offices of the Vice-President, Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives in its kitty. Of all the six geo-political zones in the country, only the South-West has been sidelined.<\/span><\/p>\n Did the party envisage that its members would disgrace it? There were ominous signs that the party was indeed not in control of its members. On May 15, a former military dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (retd.), had chided those he referred as anti-zoning forces in the party that campaigned against the North producing the president in the 2011 general elections.<\/span><\/p>\n Babangida, who aspired to rule the country after eight years of destructive leadership, said situation whereby the party was trying to zone political offices in the National Assembly had vindicated him. He, therefore, accused the party leadership of making a 360 \u2013degree u-turn on zoning.<\/span><\/p>\n The former military president in a statement titled, \u201cHow Time Vindicates General Ibrahim Babangida\u201d said, \u201cWhile some argued that zoning should be discarded and merit should be the subsisting criteria, the voice of those who stressed the importance of zoning was lost in the maddening crowd. After the elections, the music has suddenly changed and the chorus is now zoning, zoning, zoning and zoning. How time heals.\u201d Babangida, it was alleged, was among those who worked hard in order to disgrace the leadership of the PDP and the President in killing the zoning formula. Would the ACN and the CPC, which are major opposition political parties have tolerated such impunity against them by their members? Not really so, if the position of the leadership of the political parties, especially the ACN at its retreat for elected members were anything to go by. At the retreat, the party warned members of the party elected into the National Assembly and state Houses of Assemblies not to hobnob with their counterparts from the PDP. It also barred them from accepting appointments from the government of the PDP or from paying courtesy calls and maintained it would not be part of the Government of National Unity of President Goodluck Jonathan.<\/span><\/p>\n The ACN National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated the position of the party at the induction. Mohammed was asked by the National chairman of the party Bisi Akande to inform the legislators\u2019 elect the position of the party on the GNU. He said, \u201cAll Nigerians are looking up to the party and the success at the general elections is not that of the party alone but the entire country. Nigerians want to see a difference and our members in the National Assembly must draw up an agenda to make the party different\u201d. Also speaking, Akande said \u201cIf we want to maintain good democracy, we should be able to stay apart as the opposition and the voices of members of the National Assembly must ring a bell.\u201d The party went ahead that it would do everything within its powers to make sure that the zoning formula of the PDP was defeated.<\/span><\/p>\n With the decision of the members of the House, the popular refrain that \u201cIt is the party\u2019s decision\u201d, which is a common avowal among Nigeria\u2019s politicians, may have died. But a member of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity said what happened to the PDP would not have been imagined during the Second Republic either in the National Party of Nigeria or the Unity Party of Nigeria, \u201cbecause then, we had party discipline and there was cohesion.\u201d Nevertheless will this new found freedom by the members of the House help in rebuilding the PDP, which is yet to recover from its monumental electoral defeat during the 2011 general elections? Or has the party begun gradual disintegration, as planned and executed by the members of the opposition in conjunction with disgruntled members of the party? The way its leadership responds to the House rebellious act will determine whether its end is near or not. But the leadership may also need to know that other members of the party are watching to see whether the party will swallow its pride and allow the disgrace meted out to its national chairman and some governors, who monitored the voting to go without taking necessary action that could lead to total breakdown of law and order in the self-proclaimed largest party in Africa.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n