When Idris Wase, deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, was celebrating his 56th birthday two years ago, the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress facilitated him and commended his “maturity and competence” and his positive partnership with the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila. The party said in a statement that the partnership brought “stability and cross-party” support for the green chambers.
That alliance now appeared to have been irreparably broken. On May 24, during plenary, Wase openly and angrily confronted Gbajabiamila over what many would see as a non-issue.
I have watched the footage of the spat between Gbajabiamila and his deputy, Wase, nearly a dozen times since the incident took place. While I was quite entertained by the exchanges (which sounded like a well-scripted dialogue in a drama), I couldn’t fathom the rationale behind Wase’s public dispute with the Speaker.
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It was riveting entertainment for me the way Wase needled the speaker with his courtesies and the manner the latter visibly struggled to contain his anger. I would commend both men for maintaining decorum in their verbal exchanges. We expected no less from both gentlemen. But was it necessary? Was it worth it?
What triggered the confrontation was Gbajabiamila’s directive to the chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, Hassan Fulata, to include a few items on the agenda for the next day’s plenary, citing a need to close plenary before 2 pm in order to attend the commissioning of the permanent site of the National Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies.
He asked the chairman to make the order paper light so that members could attend the event which he considered “very important.” But Wase quickly jumped up to challenge the speaker for ordering that the order paper be made light, saying lawmakers were elected mainly to make laws and not to attend such functions which he didn’t consider important.
It was a clash of egos which once again showed us that our politicians are largely driven by self-ambition and not the greater good. For four years, Wase had related to Gbajabiamila like a twin and no one could have imagined it would come to this. The two had enjoyed a very cordial and brotherly working relationship at the head of the green chambers (at least publicly) to the point that one could not see either of them taking a major decision without the other in the know.
But this relationship has now been jeopardized, and it’s unlikely that both men will feel comfortable with each other going forward. It’s obvious that Wase felt betrayed that Gbajabiamila reportedly spearheaded the choice of Tajudeen Abbas and Benjamin Kalu as speaker and deputy speaker for the 10th House of Representatives behind his back.
He is certainly entitled to feel that he had earned Gbajabiamila’s confidence over the last four years they worked together, and saw the speaker’s alleged action as a letdown. To be fair, Wase was among the first lawmakers to declare his intention to contest for speaker, trying around the country to consult with important stakeholders. I also assume that he must have informed Gbajabiamila of his intention to succeed him.
So, annoyed that the leadership of APC announced Abbas as the party’s choice for speaker, Wase along with other aspirants who claimed the party did not consult them before making the decision, decided to rebel against their party and against Gbajabiamila.
Thus, it was clear that Wase’s action was a continuation of the rebellion against his party and against the speaker. Wase disagreed with Gbajabiamila at plenary because, according to him, the commissioning of a building was not the reason legislators were elected. This is true, but Wase wouldn’t have rebelled against the speaker if he was the one chosen by the party for speaker of the 10th assembly.
In any case, Gbajabiamila explained that he was not calling off plenary because of the commissioning but only requested that the order paper should not be crowded so that the House could adjourn by 2 pm. So, there was really no need for Wase to oppose Gbajabiamila in the manner he did, except to embarrass the speaker. And it would seem Wase’s colleagues present at plenary on the day also felt his tantrums were unnecessary going by their reaction. They stared at Wase in disbelief as he exchanged words with the speaker, something they had not seen in the last four years.
It must have been hard on them to watch their two presiding officers engage in such angry brickbats, especially when their tenure ends in less than one month. I don’t know what got into Wase and why he allowed his ambition destroy the brotherly relationship he had with Gbajabiamila.
Let’s even assume Gbajabiamila didn’t want him as next speaker. Is that enough to show such anger as he displayed during his exchanges with Gbajabiamila? Can Gbajabiamila alone decide for the party? Even if he had such powers and he bypassed you, is it worth throwing out four years of friendship? Could it not have been better handled?
But since he had chosen to rebel, I hope he had analyzed the situation and calculated well. Politics, according to Max Weber, the German political economist who died in 1920, is a struggle for power and influence. It is a game where you must properly define your goal and how to achieve it. It is also about taking decisions. The choices you make could decide your fate.
Wase has obviously chosen to side with the Mukhtar Betara group against the Abbas group in the contest for speakership of the 10th assembly. He has drawn the battle line and picked a fight with the authorities. He now has to hope that his group triumphs when the 10th House of Representatives is inaugurated in two weeks time. That is when he would know whether he ruined it or not.
– Tajudeen is an Abuja-based journalist.
Disclaimer: This article is entirely the opinion of the writer and does not represent the views of The Whistler.