Amidst growing tension as to who succeeds the incumbent Speaker of the House of Representatives, the leading contender for the exalted position, Hon. Mukhtar Aliyu Betara has said that the coalition of seven contestants now known as G-7 will determine who finally emerges.
Hon. Betara who spoke at the unveiling ceremony of the Speakership bid by a member of the coalition who is also the incumbent Deputy Speaker, Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase expressed optimism that their group would arrive at a consensus on who is best suited to preside over the proceedings of the House.
The federal lawmaker who is also the Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation described Hon. Wase as a brother and a comrade who is equally qualified to preside over the House.
Reiterating his opposition to the move to impose a Speaker on the House of Representatives, he noted: “For us, we formed this group because we are opposed to the zoning arrangement of our party, the All Progressives Congress, APC. We are not fighting and we would not fight. We are in support of a consensus candidate.”
“We can pick the candidate from among ourselves if we all sit down and decided on it. I assure all of you that it’s only one person that God would choose to be Speaker. I assure you we are not going to have any issue. We are going to agree to support one of us as speaker”, he said.
On his part, another contestant, Hon. Sada Soli said there is need for fairness, inclusivity and respect for diversity in arriving at the choice of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The Katsina born lawmaker called on members-elect to strive to protect the sanctity and freedom of the institution of the legislature.
“Anything short of that, the consequences would be dire. We must drop all personal interest geared towards producing a Speaker who would not take directive for some personal aggrandisement, a speaker who would tell you as it is. Lawmaking is a very serious business. It is beyond personal interests”, he added.
Also speaking, one of the aspirants, Hon. Yusuf Gagdi who spoke in the same vein warned against a rubberstamp House of Representatives that would take directive from forces outside the hallowed chamber of the National Assembly.
“We are determine to protect democracy. The House of Representatives is the House of the Nigerian people. By the time we are working, no leadership of party would be there. Only we and we would be doing the serious business of lawmaking”, he said.
The only female aspirant, Hon. Miriam Onuoha, one of the members of the coalition reiterated her opposition to injustice in the polity while calling for inclusivity of women and other vulnerable groups that form over half of the population of the country.
“I stand with the coalition, indivisibility of Nigeria. Legislature is independent. Members-elect would rise up to the challenge to ensure the independence of the legislature,” she added.
In conclusion, Wase said it behooves on the leadership of the party to cede the seat to him having served the interest of the APC, the parliament and the nation over the years.