Crisis looms in the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, as the deputy Speaker, Idris Wase, is dangling the position of the deputy Speaker before the opposition parties in his bid to become speaker of the House of Reps.
Aspirants for principal positions of the house are poised for war with the president-elect, Bola Tinubu and the APC for selecting some candidates.
THE WHISTLER learnt over the weekend that Wase is determined to go all out to ascend the throne when he declared on Friday in Yoruba language, ’emi lokan’ to mean ‘it is my turn’, à la Tinubu in 2022.
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Tinubu had used that term in Abeokuta, Ogun State, to press home his intent when he learnt President Muhammadu Buhari was in opposition to his presidential bid.
Wase, who’s the deputy to Femi Gbajabiamila in the current house of representatives, is allegedly conceding key leadership positions which include juicy committees to the opposition political parties, who are in the majority called ‘minority majority’ in the house.
The defiant Wase who sources said is not on speaking terms with Gbajabiamila following accusation that the speaker is responsible for the emergence of Tajudeen Abbas as Tinubu’s anointed candidate said Nigeria is built on supremacy of the law not the overarching power of a single person.
“At this point, I will use the words of my leader, emi lokan, emi lokan, emi lokan”, referring to Tinubu noting that, “It is only the North-central in the entire country that has not produced the Speaker in 24 years after the return of democracy to Nigeria in 1999.
“Fellow Nigerians, Nigeria is built on the supremacy of the law and the sacredness of the constitution for justice to reign and to keep the peace in the country,” he said.
Sources in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which has the highest number of elected reps in the minority caucus said “Wase is determined to ensure he emerges or the opposition can emerge.
“He and several others are now determined to enter into alliance with the PDP and the minority caucus and we are ready to accept them like we did in 2015 when Bukola Saraki emerged the Senate president,” a member-elect said on Saturday.
Although he said he did not attend Wase’s declaration, he said he’s reaching out to opposition members-elect for a common ground.
“He’s not alone. Others too are conceding juicy positions to the opposition members-elect and I can tell you one of them is deputy speaker position.
“You know our committee is still sitting. Once the minority committee decides, we would make the move for what’s right for us,” he said.
Wase like other aspirants is aggrieved that the APC settled for Godswill Akpabio (South-south) for the position of the Senate president and Barau Jibrin (North-west) for the position of the deputy senate president.
The APC also endorsed Abbas (North-west) and Ben Kalu (South-east) for speaker and deputy speaker respectively.
Others opposing Abbas are House Leader Alhassan Doguwa, Muktar Betara, Sada Soli, Aminu Wali among others.
Betara, who’s from Borno State, the homestate of the vice President-elect also attended Wase’s declaration, alongside Soli, Wali and others.
Betara, who spoke at the event said his camp, which includes Wase, would decide who emerges speaker and other principal officers when the assembly would be inaugurated in June.
“For us forming a group, we are not fighting, we are all APC members. A consensus candidate can be picked but we must sit and say this is the person we have picked to lead us.
“I assure all my colleagues, members-elect, and former members, we are not going to fight. We are going to agree to support one of us as the speaker,” Mr Betara said.
The APC had lost the Senate president position to the candidate supported by the PDP and other opposition members in 2015.
Saraki, who emerged the winner in the election also opposed what he called the imposition of the party and teamed up with the minority caucus to upend the arrangements.
He compensated the PDP which was the majority in the minority caucus with the position of the deputy Senate President, in the person of Ike Ekweremadu.
Wase is toeing a similar path with revelation that he condemned what he called imposition by the president-elect and the APC and is determined to ensure that the arrangements do not see the light of day by working with the opposition members.