Shettima to meet Wase, others on Reps speakership

The Vice-President-elect, Kashim Shettima, said on Friday he would open discussion with all individuals eyeing the position of the speaker in the House of Representatives to accept the All Progressives Congress (APC) decision on the matter.

The APC National Working Committee (NWC) had during the week nominated the lawmaker representing the Zaria Federal Constituency in Kaduna State, Abbas Tajudeen, as the speaker of the House of Representatives and the current House spokesman, Benjamin Kalu, as the deputy.

The decision did not sit well with members of the ruling party with many demanding that the NWC revisit the zoning arrangement.

The politicians eyeing the country’s number four position are the current deputy speaker, Idris Wase, the lawmaker representing Biu/Bayo/Shani and Kwaya Kusar Federal Constituency of Borno State, Muktar Aliyu Betara, and his counterpart from Okigwe North Federal Constituency of Imo State, Mariam Onuoha.

Shettima, who spoke at a meeting with House of Representatives members elected on the APC platform at his residence in Abuja, said he would reach out to lawmakers interested in the two positions to accept the party’s choice.

The former Borno State governor also stressed the importance of a healthy relationship between the executive and legislature in a democratic government.

READ ALSO: Speakership: Wase, other aspirants storm APC office, accuse Adamu, NWC of betrayal

He said: “I will take it upon myself to reach out to the other contenders. For instance, Muktar Betara is my brother. We are from the same sub-region, the same state and I have the best relationship with him.

“I met him two nights ago and I will sustain that discussion so that at the end of the day there will be no winner, no vanquished.

“I met with Idris Wase, the deputy speaker at about 1:00 p.m. today (Friday). He is someone very close to me. We will continue with the engagements so that we shall have a rancour-free 10th assembly.

“Mariam Onuoha is my friend. I will reach out to her so that together, we can form one person.

“Let’s go back to history, when former President Olusegun Obasanjo lost grip of the National Assembly, his first tenure was a failure. It was largely enmeshed in one crisis after another. It was when he got a grip on the National Assembly he was able to achieve a lot in his second term.

“President Muhammadu Buhari could do little in his first term fundamentally because of rancorous or the strained 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.”

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