The vice president-elect, Kashim Shettima, has warned against having a rancorous National Assembly, saying it would stain the relationship between the legislature and executive, thereby denying the people dividends of democracy.
He gave the warning when Tajudeen Abbas and Benjamin Kalu who were endorsed by the APC for the position of the House of Representatives speaker and deputy met him in Abuja at the weekend.
The meeting was at the instance of the joint task group of the 10th House, comprising members of all the political parties with members-elect into the green chamber.
Addressing the over 100 lawmakers, Shetimma said former president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, lost the 2015 election as a result of a rancour following the emergence of Aminu Tambuwal as speaker of the House against his party’s wish.
Aspirants for the speaker position who protested against the endorsement at the APC national secretariat include the deputy speaker, Idris-Wase; chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Muktar Betara, Yusuf Gagdi , Miriam Onuoha, Sada Soli and Sani Jaji.
Those for the senate are Abdullaziz Yari , Orji Kalu, Sani Musa and Osita Izunaso who was absent.
While the party’s national chairman, Abdullahi Adamu said the party would go back to the drawing board, the vice president-elect said he was reaching out to the aggrieved aspirants to have a common ground.
Shettima said, “I will take it upon myself to reach out to the other contenders. Rt Hon Betara is my brother. We are from the same sub-region, we are from the same state and I have the best relationship with him. I met him too nights ago, I will sustain that. We will continue with the engagements so we can have a rancor-free assembly.
“When Obasanjo lost grip of the National Assembly, his first tenure of was a failure. President Buhari could do little in his first because of rancorous relationship between the executive and the legislature. What was accomplished in the last four years was because of the harmonious relationship between the executive and legislature.
“When Goodluck Jonathan lost grip of the National Assembly when Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal emerged as the speaker, that rancorous relationship culminated in his defeat in 2015. Mariam Onuoha is my friend, I will reach out to her.”
While justifying the choice of Akpabio for senate president, the former Borno governor said: “What we are trying to avoid is a situation whereby the number one citizen, number two citizen, the number three citizen, the number four citizen, the number four citizen are all of the same faith. That will validate the negative narrative of Islamisation of Nigeria.”
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