The decision by the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress and President-elect Bola Tinubu to endorse Tajudeen Abbas for the post of the Speaker of the next House of Representatives has continued to generate ripples in the party as other aspirants for the position including the current Deputy Speaker Idris Wase have vowed not to back down.
The ruling party confirmed Iwitnesslive’s exclusive on Monday when it announced Abbas as its choice for the post of Speaker and Ben Kalu as his Deputy.
Iwitnesslive can also report that Wase is working in tandem with other aspirants including Mukhtar Betara, the leader of the House, Hon. Ado Doguwa, chairman, the House Committee on Navy, Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, and Hon. Sada Soli Jibia to thwart the decision of the party when the 10th Assembly convenes for the election of principal officers in June.
They made their position during the official declaration of Betara for the race in Abuja on Monday.
The deputy speaker, Wase said Abbas was not known to the members of the House and that they were not consulted on the decision to have him as a consensus candidate.
“I want to add that we are here to ensure the independence of the parliament; to ensure that we work together. Every parliamentarian must rise to the occasion.
“I don’t know whether that is the meaning of consensus. This place is very sacred. We must be Honourable in our action in defence of the federal republic of Nigeria”, he said.
However, our correspondent learnt that Tinubu had reached out to Reps members in the opposition parties so as to dismantle the plot by the Batera group.
A very reliable source told this newspaper that Tinubu had enlisted the support of influential lawmaker Abdulmummin Jibrin of the New Nigeria Peoples Party to work on other members of the opposition parties including the Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party with a view to accepting the choice of Abbas as the next Speaker.
Jibrin is believed to be working to deliver Batera as the next Speaker but Tinubu is now ready to exploit his closeness with the Kano lawmaker to draw him to his side on the Abbas project.
“Tinubu has spoken to the aspirants including Batera and Wase on the need to accept the consensus arrangement of the party but it is obvious the aspirants are ready for a showdown with their party. The President-elect being a master strategist when it comes to politics has not only infiltrated their camp, he is now working even with the opposition party so that he can deliver TJ (Tajudeen Abbas) as the next Speaker.
“NNPP rep, Jibrin, until recently has been working for Batera but Tinubu has drawn him to his side. You know he is particularly close to the former Lagos State Governor and you could see that he was one of those who visited the president-elect when he returned from Europe.
“Jibrin, a former member of APC who only defected to the NNPP because he fell out with Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, remain an influential lawmaker and he has now shifted camp ready to deliver TJ,” the source said.
