A new twist has emerged in the race for the Speaker of the House of Representatives, as non-ranking members are making arrangement to present a candidate for the top office.
The development is coming ahead of the meeting by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the All Progressives Congress (NEC) expected to hold today to decide on the zone that will produce the Speaker. The meeting will also ratify other zoning arrangements for top offices.
Daily Sun gathered yesterday that new members who constitute two-thirds of the House are planning to sponsor a candidate for the speakership election, following pockets of meetings. The person being touted, it was learnt, is Hon Philip Shuaibu from Edo State. He is currently a member of the state House of Assembly and former president of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS).
“We are aware of moves by some new members to sponsor Hon Shuaibu to vie for the office of Speaker on June 6”, a ranking member disclosed.
Although the freshers are aware that the rules of the House bar them from either heading committees or being part of the leadership, they are said to be planning to move a motion to set aside the rules.
The lawmaker said, “one of them told me that they want to move a motion to set aside the rules of the House to pave way for them to sponsor somebody to contest. I think they are acting from the position of ignorance; nobody is taking them serious.
“We are all aware that some of them have been meeting but we are not losing sleep over that because we know that their meeting cannot produce anything meaningful.”
Sources among the fresh Reps-elect said they are against the rules on ranking because in the past, a fresh federal legislature headed the Senate,
According to them, the first time Senators Ken Nnamani and Ike Ekweremadu came to the Senate, they contested for the post of Senate president. Nnamani became Senate President that year.
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