National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole on Monday spoke on the emergence of next Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The current office holders are Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara.
Addressing newly elected members of the House of Representatives at the Shehu Yar’adua Centre in Abuja, Oshiomhole said the APC was not prepared to share offices of principal officers of the House and headship of critical committees with the opposition, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) except for position reserved for minority members.
He said: “The first is the challenge of ensuring that this time around we ensure that we have a leadership of the National Assembly that shares the vision of the executive. Although we speak to separation of power but there is only one government and unless the various arms pursue the same agenda it is difficult for the executive to realise it purpose because legislative backing is often required for the executive actions.
“So I will expect that you bear in mind that we are one family joined together as shown in our broom, with a share commitment to bail Nigeria out of the condition in which we find it in 2015.
“And that you have the numbers and we will use those numbers to ensure that we have a leadership that command the trust and the respect of all the members of the House of Representatives. There will be contestation, that is why we are in democracy but after the contestation and debate we have to agree, and once you have agree you move forward.
“We have the numbers to produce the Speaker and we will produce the Speaker, who must be a member of the APC. We have the numbers to produce the Deputy Speaker and we will use the numbers to produce the Deputy Speaker, who must be a member of the APC. We have the number and we must use the numbers to elect a House Leader who must be a member of APC.
“We have the numbers and we will use the numbers to produce a Chief Whip and a Deputy Whip who must be members of the APC. I think the only position that we are not interested in is the Minority Leader. Let it remain minor in the hands of the minors in the opposition.
“We will not share power in the House of the Representatives and the leadership must ensure that critical committees that drive government are chaired only by APC members. If the Nigeria people wanted to be chairmen of committees they would have voted for them.
“So all the chairmen of committees, except one that is statutory reserve for opposition, which is Public Account, they can have that. So, we would not do the kind of thing that happened the last time in which some APC members as members of the leading party became distance spectators in the management of committees, when PDP had majority of the strategic committees in the House that will not happen in the next Assembly.
“We are aware that they believe they can use the divide and rule by sponsoring many people within our ranks to contest for which of the position so that they then become the king maker and in return the person will offer them some chairmanship seats.
“Hon members and comrades I’m sure are not going to do business with them. We will see them as partners in progress but in democracy the rule is, and it is a universal rule, majority must have their way but minority must be allowed to have their say.
“So PDP and other minority can have their say but working together APC must have it way in legislative agenda, in the leadership of the National Assembly and the leadership of the committees in the National Assembly. I thought we should make this thing clear so that those who may not understand what is happening don’t fall into the trap.
“Somebody told me the opposition party people are already doing something, raising money to bribe people and I said no we are anti-corruption, we cannot be corrupted.
“If they bring One Billion Naira to each member, PDP person will not be Speaker, a PDP person will not be Deputy Speaker, a PDP person will not be Whip, a PDP person will not be Leader and a PDP person will not take any of the Committee that are meant for the ruling party. We are determining to achieve that and be rest assured that the party will stand by you.”
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