A coalition of members-Elect in the House of Representatives under the auspices of Joint Task- 10th Assembly has warned against a repeat of the 2015 scenario in the race for the Speaker.
The Members-Elect said in the overall interest of the nation, they will respect whatever zoning arrangement the All Progressives Congress (APC) when the House is inaugurated in June.
The coalition made up of returning and new members-elect said in a statement that they will respect the decision of the majority party in the House as well as the opposition parties in line with parliamentary best practices.
The statement signed by the chairman and co-chairman, Hon. Bello Kumo (APC, Gombe) and Hon. Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers) said their decision has received the buy-in of about 14 Governors of the APC, 9 PDP Governors as well as several National Working Committee (NWC) members of the ruling and opposition political parties.
Members of the coalition cut across members-elect from the APC, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party (LP), the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Young Progressive Party (YPP).
The Nation gathered on Friday that some other lawmakers, mainly from the minority parties in the incoming Assembly, have also resolved to team up with the coalition to achieve their aim of ensuring a racour free election of presiding officers for the House.
The statement said the main focus of the coalition is to promote the independence of the Legislature; the inter-dependence of the Legislature and other Arms of Government to legislate for good governance and grassroots impact; constituency outreach; equity and fairness among Members-elect as well as unity, equity and fairness in the emergence of Presiding and Principal Officers in line with best parliamentary practice.
It said that already, 283 members-elect, comprising both returning and new members, have endorsed the coalition, which awaits the decision of the ruling APC on the zoning of the various offices.
The statement said further that the coalition is independent of the speakership ambition of any of the various aspirants but with determination to build a strong coalition of members-elect of the 10th House in readiness to support the majority party zoning of the speakership office towards building a rancor-free and people-oriented 10th Assembly and in line with best parliamentary practice.
The statement said further that members of the coalition are in agreement with whatever the majority party – APC – decision on zoning will be.
