There are indications that the battle for the position of
speaker of the House of Representatives may be causing rift between the
national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola
Ahmed Tinubu and the immediate past Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal.
This new development is said to be posing a serious threat to the harmony that exists in the party.
It
was gathered by The Sun that rift in the party became apparent after a
recent retreat for the members of the House which failed to mend the
crack between the leadership of the party and some interest groups
backing some candidates.
According to report, Hon Yakubu Dogara,
the chairman of the House Services Committee is widely believed to enjoy
the full backing of the former Speaker and his Deputy Chief Emeka
Ihedioha while Tinubu’s candidate is outgoing minority leader, Femi
Gbajabiamila, who is from the South-west.
A competent source close to the house said: “I
don’t see anything changing between now and June 9. Dogara is the
project of Tambuwal and Ihedioha. It was so well worked out in concert
with the PDP members that it will be difficult to change. You know how
popular Tambuwal and Ihedioha are in the House. Even, how they emerged
in 2011 against the expressed wish and zoning principle of their party
then is a pointer.”
Apart from Tambuwal’s influence in the house and the support of the
PDP, it was further learnt that some of the people want to cease the
opportunity to whittle down Tinubu’s growing powers in the party.
The
source pointed out that Tinubu is widely acclaimed as the brain behind
the mergers that culminated in the formation of the party and is also
credited with being the force behind the emergence of Muhammadu Buhari
and Yemi Osinbajo as presidential candidate and running mate
respectively.
According to him, they need to checkmate Tinubu before it becomes too late.
“How
can one man produce the national chairman of the party, the
presidential candidate and his running mate. If he has the national
chairman, the president and his deputy, and then the Speaker, it means
the party is in his pocket, and he will do what he likes with it,” he said.
The battle may have inadvertently opened new fronts of dichotomy
between the original members of the APC at inception and those that
defected from other parties, who are derogatorily referred to as
‘joiners.’
Gbajabiamila’s supporters have often made references
to Dogara’s men as ‘joiners’. This label has not only infuriated them,
but created a steel wedge in the way of harmony and reconciliation.
The
speaker of the House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the
Federal House of Representatives of Nigeria. The speaker is chosen in
an indirect election conducted within the House of Representatives. The
speaker is third in line for succession to the Nigerian presidency,
after the president of the Senate and the vice president.