The Movement for Effective Legislature and Sustainable Democracy in Nigeria (MELSDN), has called on the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to support a candidate acceptable across political parties represented in the House of Representatives as speaker.
The movement in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja noted that the legislature being a key arm of government in a democracy requires serious institutional memory, courage and a strength of character in the person who presides over its affairs.
The group, however, revealed that polls conducted nationwide reveals that the chairman, House Committee on Appropriations, Hon Aliyu Mukthar Betara enjoys such a clout of respect, credibility and general acceptability across the members-elect of the different parties.
The movement, thereby, urged the APC to take advantage of the general acceptability of the current Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Muktar Aliyu Betara across political parties and throw its weight behind him as the Speaker of the 10th Assembly.
“The Legislature is the key organ of government in a democracy, be it presidential or parliamentary. And if the incoming 10th National Assembly will succeed, three factors must be brought into consideration and given greater premiums in our leadership recruitment process, particularly as it affects the 10th House of Representatives. They are: competency, integrity and institutional memory (experience).
In a related development, an opinion survey conducted by Legislative Trends Assessors, a parliamentary research-based organisation has suggested that the chairman of the House Committee on Land Transport, Hon Tajudeen Abass may emerge as speaker of the 10th House of Representatives.
final opinion poll on the election of speaker and other presiding officers in the National Assembly will be carried out as soon as the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Vice President-elect Kashim Shettima are sworn in on May 29.
“We want to carry out the second survey because this is a political poll and with politics nothing is static. It is a very dynamic and flexible exercise and things change fast. We believe that when the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) unveils its zoning formula, they may be some changes because some candidates will withdraw and new alliances will be formed.”
