Speakership: Gbajabiamila woos state caucuses

One of the aspirants for the Speaker of the 8thHouse of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, took his lobbying to state caucuses of the House on Monday in a bid to woo more lawmakers.Findings showed that Gbajabiamila, who is the current House Minority Leader, set up “mobilisation committees” to woo members in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.He has several strong challengers, including the Chairman, Committee on House Services, Mr. Yakubu Dogara (All Progressives Congress, Bauchi); Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Constituency Outreach, Mr. Pally Iriase (APC, Edo); Chairman, Committee on Agriculture, Mr. Mohammed Monguno (Borno, APC) and Chairman, Committee on Finance, Mr. Abdulmumin Jibrin (APC, Kano).There is still uncertainty over the zoning of key National Assembly offices by the leadership of the APC.The party has so far kept sealed lips over claims that it zoned the speakership to the South-West, Gbajabiamila’s zone.In the last one week, Dogara, Iriase and Monguno, have made a strong case for the job, threatening any possible zoning decisions by the party.Investigations showed that amid the uncertainty, Gbajabiamila set up the committees to “intensify state-by-state campaign.”About 301 out of the 360 members of the House are first timers, who do not live in Abuja.But, at a separate forum, Iriase warned the APC not to “go against the Federal Character Principle” enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.Iriase is insisting that the seat should be zoned to the South-South “for the purpose of geo-political ýbalancing.”“The work of Gbajabiamila’s committees is to widen the campaign and reach out to the members to sell the candidacy of the minorityleader.“It has become clear that a lot more needs to be done across party lines,” a National Assembly official toldThe PUNCHon Monday.It was learnt that in Kaduna State, for example,the coordinator is Mr. Rufai Chanchangi, while Mr. Abdulahi Balarabe coordinates Sokoto State.“Yobe State has Khadijah Ibrahim, while Ondohas Baderinwa White, among others”, the source added.But, speaking with journalists in reaction to reports that the APC had settled for the South-West, Iriase stated that any zoning that ruled out the South-South would be against the Federal Character principle.Iriase and Mr.Peter Akpatason are the only two returning APC lawmakers in the House from the South-South.He spoke further, “I don’t wish my party a replay of the Peoples Democratic Party scenario in 2011.“If the zoning is equitable and fair, members may not want to rock the boat of the APC.”Iriase, who described himself as the “one withthe better administrative experience” among the aspirants, promised to run a transparent leadership, “fight corruption and ensure prudent management of resources.”