Politics

10th NASS Speakership: Don’t Expect Us To Be Loyal If Your Preferred Choice Stands – G7 Tells APC

Published

2 years ago

May 10, 2023

Following the zoning arrangement for National Assembly leadership positions released on Monday by the National Working Committee, NWC, of the All Progressives Congress, APC, seven aspirants for the Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives have come together under the G7 platform to reject the declaration.

The members of the G7 group are Deputy Speaker of the House, Hon Ahmed Idris Wase; Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, Hon. Mukhtar Aliyu Betara, Hon. Sada Soli. Hon. Aminu Sani Jaji. Hon. Mariam Onuoha and House of Representatives Majority Leader, Hon. Al Hassan Doguwa.

The G7 lawmakers, during a meeting with the APC NWC members in Abuja on Wednesday, described the zoning arrangement as unfair, unjust and inequitable and threatened to oppose any attempts by outside forces to impose a leadership on the 10th House of Representatives.

Hon. Mukhtar Aliyu Betara, while addressing the APC Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, said, “I supported every member of APC and some of our leaders contesting for elections when we were going in for the election. I was shocked when I heard that I did anti-party. My unit is in Biu my result is in INEC. You can request my result for my unit if anti-party it going to show.

“Another thing I need to clear here, sir, i was told that the same group are saying I gave monies to a presidential aspirant. So if there is any transfer to anybody, the banks are there. I want to still tell you as leaders if I should give money to a presidential aspirant and he wins, what is he going to give me? On my own, I want to become speaker in my party. If another party wins, can I become speaker? No. So we don’t need to blackmail ourselves. Politics is about give and take.

“Our colleagues here can testify, I have done well for the National Assembly when I was Chairman of the Army, Chairman of Defence and now Appropriations. Sir, I have 38 members, including my deputy chairman of the Appropriations Committee and me, but for me to stabilise the House, I co-opted 100 members to my committee just for me to stabilise the House for Femi. But today, we are aspiring for the speakership, the deputy speaker, the House leader, myself, Gagdi, Miriam, Sada, etc.

“We are not against our leaders, but if we should sit down and say sit amongst yourselves and pick somebody you think you can work with, it is easy, but the person the speaker is trying to even pick there are some of our colleagues that don’t know him. That’s the truth, I am not lying. If today the party said we zoned to the north west, I have to sit and think because now the party is zoning the deputy senate president and the speaker to the same zone. We have been in this Assembly. There is no time that two presiding officers are zoned to one area. It has never happened.”

Also, Speaking Hon. Gagdi emphasised that the proposed arrangement by the NWC was wrong, stating that ”the party should not hope that our loyalty will be guaranteed at the detriment of justice, peace and fairness. We will respect justice, unity and equity in the chamber, but only if your instruction is in line with the principle of this party. Do not hope that we have come here to succumb to any instruction and directive given to us.’’

‘’Do we want unity, to say that the Deputy Senate President should go to North West and the Speaker should go to North West when in the true sense of the word, sir, in the presidential election, North-Central known to have majority number of Christians, with utmost apologies let me say this, and the religious and tribal affiliations attributed to 2023 elections, yet North Central resisted the temptation, delivered four states to the President-elect, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu; delivered 11 senators.

“The North-west delivered 10 with two states and North-east 1 State with ten senators, and the zone that has performed like this for Mr President will be relegated to have party chairman and perhaps, as they insinuate, Secretary to the Government of the Federation; positions that the president or whosoever can scream at them and they have no locus to speak for the people of North-central. We need fairness. We need justice.”

Politics

N’Assembly committee Approves New State For S’East

Published

1 hour ago

October 26, 2025

Editor

The Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Constitution Review has approved the creation of an additional state in the South-East geo-political zone.

According to a statement by the media unit of the committee, the resolution was reached on Saturday at a two-day retreat in Lagos, where it reviewed 55 proposals for state creation across the country.

The session, chaired by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, and co-chaired by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, resolved that, in the spirit of fairness and equity, the Federal Government should create another state for the region.

Kalu, who joined other lawmakers to champion additional state creation for the region, argued that a new state would give the people a sense of belonging.

When created, the South-East will be at par with the South-South, South-West, North-Central, and North-East zones, each having six states.

The South-East is the only geo-political zone with five states comprising Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo.

The North-West comprises seven states: Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, and Jigawa.

According to the statement, Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) moved a motion for the creation of the new state, which was seconded by Ibrahim Isiaka (Ifo/Ewekoro, Ogun State) at the retreat.

“The motion received the unanimous support of committee members and was adopted,” the statement read in part

Similarly, the committee also established a sub-committee to consider the creation of additional states and local government areas across all six geo-political zones, noting that a total of 278 proposals were submitted for review.

Speaking at the event, Jibrin urged members to rally support among their colleagues at the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly to ensure the resolutions sail through during voting.

“We need to strengthen what we have started so that all parts of the country will key into this process.

“By the time we get to the actual voting, we should already have the buy-in of all stakeholders—from both chambers and the state Houses of Assembly,” the Deputy Senate President was quoted as saying.

Politics

PDP Unveils 13-member Screening Panel For National Convention

Published

19 hours ago

October 25, 2025

Editor

According to a statement issued on October 25, 2025, by the National Convention Organising Committee (NCOC) and signed by its Chairman, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, who is also the Governor of Adamawa State, the screening exercise will take place on Tuesday, October 28, 2025.

The committee will be chaired by Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), a former Ondo State governorship candidate and respected legal luminary.

He will be assisted by Hon. Mohammed L.S. Diri (SAN) as Deputy Chairman, while Mr. Asue Ighodalo, Esq., will serve as Secretary. Jacob Otorkpa was named Deputy Secretary.

Other members of the committee include: Emmanuel Enoidem (SAN), Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Chief Mrs. Aduke Maina, Iyom Josephine Anenih, Achike Udenwa, Haj. Maryam Inna Ciroma, HM. Felix Hassan Hyat, HM. Zainab Maina, and Chinedu Nwachukwu, who will also serve as Administrative Secretary.

The statement noted that the selection reflected the PDP’s commitment to transparency, integrity, and internal democracy in the build-up to its national convention.

“The NCOC notes and expects that the exemplary conduct and strict adherence to rules and regulations during this very crucial assignment will justify the confidence reposed by the Party in members of the Committee,” the statement read.

Fintiri assured party members that the screening process will be conducted with the highest standards of fairness and impartiality, underscoring the PDP’s resolve to strengthen its democratic institutions ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“This exercise is crucial in ensuring that only credible, competent, and loyal members emerge to steer the affairs of our great party,” Fintiri stated.

Politics

Why I Refused To Endorse El-Rufai As My Successor — Obasanjo

Published

22 hours ago

October 25, 2025

Editor

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has revealed how he turned down a suggestion to endorse former Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, as his successor.

Speaking on Friday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, during the second edition of the annual Ajibosin Platform symposium themed “Importance of Leadership in Governance”, Obasanjo disclosed that former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, had recommended El-Rufai for the presidency, but he rejected the idea.

Chidoka, who delivered the keynote address at the event, had earlier narrated how El-Rufai introduced him to Obasanjo at the age of 34, an encounter that led to his appointment as the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

Addressing the audience, Obasanjo took a playful jab at Chidoka for leaving out the El-Rufai story.

“Let him tell you. He didn’t mention that. He was pushing when I was leaving government that his friend, El-Rufai, should be brought in as my successor,” Obasanjo said.

Turning to Chidoka, who was seated among the panelists, he asked, “No be so (Is that not true)?” The former minister nodded in agreement.

Obasanjo explained that he dismissed the suggestion because he believed El-Rufai still needed time to grow politically.

“I did not yield to the pressure. Later, he said, ‘I suggested this person, why didn’t you agree?’ I said El-Rufai needs to mature. You remember?

“When I left government and, many years later, he saw the performances of El-Rufai, he came back to me and said, ‘You’re absolutely correct. El-Rufai needed to mature.’”

The former president, however, commended Chidoka, El-Rufai, and other former aides for their “special attributes,” which he said contributed to the success of his administration.

Speaking further on leadership, Obasanjo emphasised character, exposure, experience, and training as essential qualities of effective governance.

Obasanjo said, “It’s only in politics that I found out there is no training for leadership. Even among armed robbers, I was told there is apprenticeship.

“But it’s only in politics that there is no training in leadership. That’s not good enough.”

El-Rufai served under Obasanjo’s administration as the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) before becoming the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) between 2003 and 2007. When Obasanjo was leaving office in 2007, he instead backed the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as his preferred successor.

In his address, Chidoka blamed Nigeria’s development setbacks on excuses and what he described as the politics of alibi.

“Leadership finds its true measure not in speeches or charisma but in the systems it leaves behind.

“Moral conviction must translate into the everyday machinery of governance—rules, routines, and institutions that make competence predictable and corruption difficult.

“Nigeria’s problem has never been a shortage of ideas; it is the absence of systems strong enough to outlive their authors,” he said.

He urged leaders to prioritise accountability and measurable results.

“We must therefore make leadership accountable not to rhetoric but to results: measure by building national dashboards and accountability systems that track every promise, every budget, every outcome. Monitor by strengthening the institutions that evaluate government performance and expose complacency,” he said.