Members-elect from the opposition parties collectively known as “The Greater Majority” are split about which candidates to support for the posts of Speaker and Deputy Speaker, which has caused confusion within the opposition caucus.
The opposition caucus met again on Monday night in Abuja, at the Transcorp Hilton and Frazier Suites, to decide which candidates to endorse.
According to Daily Trust, each meeting ended with a different resolution.
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The faction from the Transcorp Hilton decided to support Tajuddeen Abbas (APC, Kaduna) and Benjamin Kalu (APC, Abia) as Speaker and Deputy, respectively, while the other faction from the Frazier Suites couldn’t agree on a candidate because they didn’t have a member of the minority who has experience.
A communiqué bearing the signatures of the convener, Idu Igariwey, and the secretary, Kabiru Alhassan Rurum, contained the resolution from the Transcorp Hilton group.
The other faction from Frazier Suites, however, explained that the organization has no specific candidate to support because none of its members are interested in running for speaker or deputy speaker through their secretary, Victor Afam Ogene.
Ogene said “The committee called on Members of the minority caucus who are interested in the speakership position or Deputy Speaker position to step forward.
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“I wish to report on behalf of the Chairman of that Committee and the entire members, as at the end of the period given to undertake that assignment no member of the minority caucus better known as the greater majority stepped forward to contest for the role of presiding officers.
“Deductively this means that we are not bidding for those two positions. However we remain united as one caucus of the opposition parties.
“We did also met with those aspiring for the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives, but because we’ve not briefed our members, I will not go into details of our interface. But I can assure you everyone that put him or herself running for the position appear to be qualified.”
It was discovered that the opposition caucus had formed an 11-person committee to identify members of the group who were interested in the positions of speaker and deputy speaker prior to their separate meetings.
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In the upcoming 10th House of Representatives, the ‘Greater Majority’ is made up of representatives from all seven opposition parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), New Nigeran Peoples Party (NNPP), Young Progressives Party (YPP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), and Action Democratic Congress (ADC).
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