Betara Is Another Kingmaker Who Wants To Become King

Finally, I have the opportunity to mention one of the most famous members in the 8th and 9th Assembly  Hon Gudaji Kazaure on this page. Kazaure sure has a very humorous way of presenting issues without missing his point, even if he misses the tenses. The member representing the Kazaure/Roni/Gwiwa/Yankwashi federal constituency of Jigawa State has been more on the comic side of the news until recently when he dropped a story of the N89.09tn allegedly siphoned from stamp duty remittances, but speaker Femi Gbajabiamila swiftly declared that the committee he (Gudaji) represented had no relationship with the House. So, on a few occasions that I tried, my better judgment didn’t place Kazaure’s humor over the topics treated here in the past.

But yesterday, while speaking at the official unveiling of the manifesto by one of those seeking to be speaker of the 10th House of Representatives, Hon Adamu Gagdi (APC Plateau) Kazaure hinted that one of those contesting the seat of speaker, Mukhtar Aliyu Betara has been a kingmaker in the Green Chamber who now wants to become king. This hurriedly reminded me of the declaration by the president-elect Asiwaju Ahmed Bola ahead of the APC presidential primaries when he said “I have been a king maker, I want to be king.”  Tinubu was further quoted to have said,  “I have never seen where it is written in the rule book anywhere in any country that a kingmaker cannot be a king, unless you commit murder.” 

In the case of Betara, it was Kazaure who wore him the regalia of a kingmaker and enjoined him to be more comfortable with his role as the father of the House as against his ambition of becoming speaker. 

I was deployed to cover that House for the first time in June 2016, about one year after inauguration of the 8th National Assembly and the election of  Hon Yakubu Dogara as speaker. I wasn’t privy to the politics that enthroned Dogara but the account rendered by Kazaure during his goodwill message at the unveiling of the Gagdi Plan likened Betera’s status to that of Tinubu. His only reason for choosing Gagdi over Betara is that “Betara is a very good man who doesn’t say No to any request”.  This, according to Kazaure is not an attribute of a good speaker who should be able to stand his ground. 

Kazaure curiously defied other contenders for the position of the 10th Assembly narrowed the race down to  Betara and Gagdi.  While I disagree with Kazaure’s judgment on the contestants as it was unfair to others, particularly the “Joint Task” bride Hon Tajudeen Abass who chairs the House Committee on Land Transport, the deputy speaker, Ahmed Idris Wase and House leader, Alhassan Ado Doguwa. Nevertheless, his description and analysis of Betara caught my attention and speaks to my warnings about imposition of candidate by the president-elect and the APC. For whatever it is worth, Nigeria does not deserve another four years of excuses of the “National Assembly is frustrating our plans.”

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Gagdi himself refer to this in his closing remarks at the unveiling when he said the presidential ticket of the APC was zoned to Southern zone not to an individual. 

“I will continue to be a law-abiding member just as I have ever been, I will continue to be an advocate of justice equity and fairness. I will not be deterred by any act that seems to undermine the principle of justice.

“Our president-elect, Asiwaju, I am following his footsteps based on his antecedents and based on what he means for Nigeria. I can not remember as an APC member where Mr president-elect Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu was endorsed as the presidential candidate of our party, it was only zoned to the Southern part of Nigeria. I give my respect to the northern governors who came out to say that the north has produced a president for 8 years and in the spirit of justice, peace, equity and fairness, the presidency should go to the South and it stopped there. The delegates that in their wisest decision decided to vote for our leader and our president-elect. I want the same spirit of justice, equity and fairness at play in the elections of the 10th speaker of the House of Representatives.”

Away from politics, Gagdi has very good programmes for the 10th House, his observation about weak oversight and undue legislative time being wasted on establishment bills are on point. Whoever emerges as the speaker will do well consult Gagdi Plan