Tambuwal: A new man in the block
By Sola Shittu.
Last week the intrigues continued on the race for the Speaker of the House of Representatives. After it was zoned to the South West by the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Muraina Ajibola and Mulikat Akande-Adeola emerged in the race but the South West caucus of the PDP adopted Muraina as the chosen candidate of the zone leaving Mulikat in the cold to fight her battle alone with a slim support from the presidency perceived to be coming from the corner of the first lady, Patience Jonathan. But a new twist was added to the race by another group spearheaded by the North West seeking the Tambuwal/Ihedioha ticket as Speaker and Deputy Speaker for the House. Both Aminu Tambuwal and Emeka Ihedioha are the Deputy Whip and the Chief Whip of the House. Although the idea was not a new one but it was not until, Farouk Lawan, a Kano PDP lawmaker decided to step down for Aminu Waziri Tambuwal from Sokoto that the group began to take their campaign serious. Last week they joined Muraina Ajibola and Mulikat Akande-Adeola in chattering a private aircraft to tour the six geo-political zone venue of the just concluded retreat for elected lawmakers. The Tambuwal group is undoubtedly parading an intimidating array of supporters and big wigs in the House leadership as well as over 150 members of the first timer lawmakers. As a matter of fact, the fresh lawmakers has a representative in the person of Honourable Kumo from Gombe among the campaigners of Tambuwal. Let’s look at the Tambuwal team, Honourable Leo Ogor, Chairman House Committee on ..., John Enoh, Chairman House committee on Finance, former Deputy Minority leader and now Minority Whip, Honourable Sumaila Kawu, chairman house Committee on Public Petition, Honourable CID Maduabum among others. these lawmakers among others form the engine room of Tambuwal and there was no doubting the fact that the Deputy Speaker, Bayero Nafada has a hand in this project even though he was not seen with them but those close to Nafada are clearly in this project. They said they are not out to confront anybody but are going to engage government in the process of ensuring that the House produce the right leadership which is the choice of members. Sincerely speaking, among all the contestants so far, Tambuwal presents the most intimidating profile as a third term legislator who has worked closely with four speakers, Lion King Na’aba, Aminu Masari, Patricia Etteh and Dimeji Bankole. Indeed there is a leadership challenge in the House and the urgent need to address this is not in question. However the overbearing influence of the party and the presidency in the past has been the undoing of the House. At the same time, it quickly comes to mind that even after the exit of Etteh and the House had an opportunity to put their own man there in the person of Bankole, the question is does the attempt solve the problem in the house? It was obvious and too glaring that the House leadership was unable to manage the success of the Integrity Group after the election of Bankole. The group obviously immediately went to sleep like NADECO after the exit of military reign. As soon as they got themselves into office, they shared the committee portfolios among themselves and forgot the crucial role of calling the Speaker to order when stepping out of his boundary. Sincerely yours, they all goofed and share in the guilt of Bankole, however since they have realised their mistake and have made up their mind to correct it, I am of the mind that it is only a catalyst from a system that can destroy that system, the solution actually lies in every system. Indeed those who have successfully managed Bankole may provide the answer to the mess in the House right now if they are serious about it.
But there is an enemy in the House for Tambuwal in another group who has insisted that he who must come for the office of the speaker and indeed the leadership of the house must come with competence and integrity. In particular, the group is insisting that no member of the present crop of leadership in the House will be allowed to hold office because they want a clean departure from the past. The group have gathered up to seventy signatures of members who are committed to this course. “Our interest is to protect democracy, because it is democracy that brought all of us here. If you look at where Nigeria is coming from you will know that we have a responsibility to ensure that democracy is a success not only in Nigeria but the entire African continent.
“The whole world is looking up to this country to provide the leadership direction for the continent. If we fail, we would have disappointed our generation and the generation unborn and of course, the entire black race will surely not forgive us”, said the group.
Tambuwal is also having a big challenge from the presidency, particularly from the office of the vice president who sees the move by the Tambuwal group as an attempt to rubbish the office of the Vice President who is also from the North West. And again will this move not rubbish the long established zoning policy of the PDP? But can we jettison competency for zoning? Yet the Tambuwal group has perfected their plans, as they successfully adopted the open secret ballot voting pattern for the election of the speaker last week. Subsequent attempt by Ita Enang and some others to reverse the motion the following day proved abortive. As it is now, the speed at which event are unfolding in the House over the speakership race is very unpredictable and the truth is the chess table is open to both the outside and the inside power brokers in the House. The question is who will prevail, the House, the Tambuwal, the PDP or the presidency? June 7th is not too far to wait for.
The new song in the Tambuwal group is that Nigeria is ripe to chat a new course in the appointment of a round peg for a round role and if the revolution can start from the House and in this Speakership race then so be it.
END
Monday, May 23, 2011
Between Muraina Ajibola and Mulikat Akande-Adeola
Between Muraina Ajibola and Mulikat Akande Adeola, a tale of two lawyers
By Sola Shittu
The outgoing Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole is undoubtedly under pressure at the tail end of his tenure as the Speaker of the 6th Assembly. His colleagues are mounting a lot of pressure for their last pay. Over two hundred and fifty of them lost their seats in the hallowed chamber to green horns lawmakers who will replace them at the 7th Assembly. Last Thursday Bankole fought a battle of his life and narrowly escaped the wrath of angry members who are bitterly complaining about the delay in the payment of their allowances. Some members who are bent on taking a pound of flesh from Bankole are not finding it funning that their money is hanging somewhere in a bank in the face of serious hardship confronting many of them now. Yet in the mist of all the heats and tension in the House, Bankole was able to flash his toothy smiles to member after a long drawn executive session and even jocularly predicted the ascension of Muraina Ajibola to the leadership ladder in the next few weeks. The question is whether Bankole has shifted his support for Bethel Amadi to Muraina after the office of Mr. Speaker was zoned to the South West.
That Muraina is in the race for the Speaker of the House is no longer a story but the real battle is whether Muraina , a practicing lawyer of many years, representing Ibarapa Central/North of Oyo State will be able to withstand his strong rival, Mulikat Akande-Adeola, also a lawyer and representative from Ogbomoso North/South/Orire in the same Oyo State. The battle became more complicated over the weekend when the South West caucus of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, met at former President Olusegun Obasanjo hill top residence at Abeokuta to endorse Obasanjo’s choice of Muraina as the candidate of the South West PDP for the office of Mr. Speaker. Even outgoing Governor Adebayo Akala, who is one of the key sponsors of Akande-Adeola was compelled to respect the decision of the caucus. But Obasanjo’s appearance on the side of Muraina has brought both the good and the bad to Muraina’s dream. But obviously the good is more than the bad in the sense that even though Obasanjo has made more enemies in politics than friends yet, his views are well respected by the PDP big shots both as a former president on the platform of the party and the Chairman Board of Trustees, BOT of the party. Obasanjo’s endorsement has brought the fear of external domination against internal influence in the business of the House. But there is another silent contestant who is rarely mentioned by observers of the happenings in the hallowed chamber of the House of Representatives. There are fie members of the PDP in the House from Oyo State, in the coming assembly but only three of them are ranking members namely, Muraina Saubana Ajibola, Mulikat Akande-Adeola and Kareem Tajudeen Abisodun. Abisodun’s chance of contesting for the exalted seat of Mr. Speaker was limited by the fact that he is a cross over member from the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN to the PDP where he obtained his return ticket. Like his two other colleagues, Abisodun is also not well known in the House because he has never been chairman of any committee and was not even prominent in any committee as Muraina, but he is regarded as the only level headed man waiting at a corner to see what is like to happen to the duo and the opportunity for him to come in. He has also been able to make a lot of friends among the lawmakers but how far that carry him, no one can tell. However, while attention is focused on both internal and external politics of the House, many are brushing aside the religious factor which is of stronger influence in the House. Many have argued that the true Speaker in the waiting is actually Mulikat Akande-Adeola who is expected to give the women folk a brilliant sense of belonging in the nation’s politics. Besides, her attachment to the first lady, Patience Jonathan who has been at the vanguard for women playing prominent roles in politics is a powerful influence for her. Mulika, like Muraina are not so popular in the House but in fairness to Muraina, his role in the power probe by the House committee on power led by Ndudi Elumelu in 2008 is a plus for him, just as his decision to write minority report against the Elumelu report did not also go down well with some of his colleagues in the House. However, unlike Mulikat, the power probe and the role of Muraina in it propelled him above his competitor. But Mulikat is also a lawyer with Master degree who also has the ability to communicate fluently in all the three major languages of Nigeria as well as being agraduate of ABU Zaria. while the religious factor favour both Muraina and Mulikat who are coming from Islamic religion yet, the Islamic religion places less emphasis on women playing a leadership role or even leading a prayer in the mosque or at home. This religious inter-play was a dominant factor in the removal of Madam Etteh the predecessor of Bankole even though nobody mentioned it. It has always being an underground factor that controls the votes of lawmakers in the appointment of Speaker. It will be recalled that Etteh’s exit was largely blamed on her being the choice of Obasanjo but the election of Bankole was based on being a muslim and the candidate of the Muslim north members and that was why it was difficult to remove him even in the face of serious scandals rocking the House.
The challenge before Muraina and Mulikat therefore is to go beyond external support of sponsorship to warming themselves to the hearts of their colleagues in the House who actually have the voting right in the election of Mr. Speaker. At the moment, the duo have shifted their base to Protea Hotel at Apo where they have their campaign offices. The exodus of member to the hotel is an indication of seriousness attached to the office of Mr. Speaker.
By Sola Shittu
The outgoing Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole is undoubtedly under pressure at the tail end of his tenure as the Speaker of the 6th Assembly. His colleagues are mounting a lot of pressure for their last pay. Over two hundred and fifty of them lost their seats in the hallowed chamber to green horns lawmakers who will replace them at the 7th Assembly. Last Thursday Bankole fought a battle of his life and narrowly escaped the wrath of angry members who are bitterly complaining about the delay in the payment of their allowances. Some members who are bent on taking a pound of flesh from Bankole are not finding it funning that their money is hanging somewhere in a bank in the face of serious hardship confronting many of them now. Yet in the mist of all the heats and tension in the House, Bankole was able to flash his toothy smiles to member after a long drawn executive session and even jocularly predicted the ascension of Muraina Ajibola to the leadership ladder in the next few weeks. The question is whether Bankole has shifted his support for Bethel Amadi to Muraina after the office of Mr. Speaker was zoned to the South West.
That Muraina is in the race for the Speaker of the House is no longer a story but the real battle is whether Muraina , a practicing lawyer of many years, representing Ibarapa Central/North of Oyo State will be able to withstand his strong rival, Mulikat Akande-Adeola, also a lawyer and representative from Ogbomoso North/South/Orire in the same Oyo State. The battle became more complicated over the weekend when the South West caucus of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, met at former President Olusegun Obasanjo hill top residence at Abeokuta to endorse Obasanjo’s choice of Muraina as the candidate of the South West PDP for the office of Mr. Speaker. Even outgoing Governor Adebayo Akala, who is one of the key sponsors of Akande-Adeola was compelled to respect the decision of the caucus. But Obasanjo’s appearance on the side of Muraina has brought both the good and the bad to Muraina’s dream. But obviously the good is more than the bad in the sense that even though Obasanjo has made more enemies in politics than friends yet, his views are well respected by the PDP big shots both as a former president on the platform of the party and the Chairman Board of Trustees, BOT of the party. Obasanjo’s endorsement has brought the fear of external domination against internal influence in the business of the House. But there is another silent contestant who is rarely mentioned by observers of the happenings in the hallowed chamber of the House of Representatives. There are fie members of the PDP in the House from Oyo State, in the coming assembly but only three of them are ranking members namely, Muraina Saubana Ajibola, Mulikat Akande-Adeola and Kareem Tajudeen Abisodun. Abisodun’s chance of contesting for the exalted seat of Mr. Speaker was limited by the fact that he is a cross over member from the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN to the PDP where he obtained his return ticket. Like his two other colleagues, Abisodun is also not well known in the House because he has never been chairman of any committee and was not even prominent in any committee as Muraina, but he is regarded as the only level headed man waiting at a corner to see what is like to happen to the duo and the opportunity for him to come in. He has also been able to make a lot of friends among the lawmakers but how far that carry him, no one can tell. However, while attention is focused on both internal and external politics of the House, many are brushing aside the religious factor which is of stronger influence in the House. Many have argued that the true Speaker in the waiting is actually Mulikat Akande-Adeola who is expected to give the women folk a brilliant sense of belonging in the nation’s politics. Besides, her attachment to the first lady, Patience Jonathan who has been at the vanguard for women playing prominent roles in politics is a powerful influence for her. Mulika, like Muraina are not so popular in the House but in fairness to Muraina, his role in the power probe by the House committee on power led by Ndudi Elumelu in 2008 is a plus for him, just as his decision to write minority report against the Elumelu report did not also go down well with some of his colleagues in the House. However, unlike Mulikat, the power probe and the role of Muraina in it propelled him above his competitor. But Mulikat is also a lawyer with Master degree who also has the ability to communicate fluently in all the three major languages of Nigeria as well as being agraduate of ABU Zaria. while the religious factor favour both Muraina and Mulikat who are coming from Islamic religion yet, the Islamic religion places less emphasis on women playing a leadership role or even leading a prayer in the mosque or at home. This religious inter-play was a dominant factor in the removal of Madam Etteh the predecessor of Bankole even though nobody mentioned it. It has always being an underground factor that controls the votes of lawmakers in the appointment of Speaker. It will be recalled that Etteh’s exit was largely blamed on her being the choice of Obasanjo but the election of Bankole was based on being a muslim and the candidate of the Muslim north members and that was why it was difficult to remove him even in the face of serious scandals rocking the House.
The challenge before Muraina and Mulikat therefore is to go beyond external support of sponsorship to warming themselves to the hearts of their colleagues in the House who actually have the voting right in the election of Mr. Speaker. At the moment, the duo have shifted their base to Protea Hotel at Apo where they have their campaign offices. The exodus of member to the hotel is an indication of seriousness attached to the office of Mr. Speaker.
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