Mr. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, an ally of former House of
Representatives Minority Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, said on Wednesday that
he considered the offer made to him to become the Majority Leader of the House
as a possible solution to the raging leadership tussle in the legislature.
“I
consider this offer good if it is genuine; the Speaker (Yakubu Dogara) has
given the assurances that he is ready for peace to prevail in the House.
“This
offer, to my mind, is a good gesture and we can work with it – given the
assurances by the Speaker,” he stated.
Ado-Doguwa
spoke exclusively at the National Assembly in Abuja.
Ado-Doguwa,
who is from Kano State, is a member of the All Progressives Congress’ Loyalists
Group, which has for long, insisted that the party’s sharing formula for
principal offices must be obeyed.
However,
he clarified that members of the group had not met to discuss the offer, but he
called on them to reason along with him.
“I am
just expressing my own view on this matter; that we have to accept this offer
so that we can move ahead. I believe that the general opinion of Nigerians is
that this crisis has dragged on for too long and we should end it and allow the
government to move on,” Ado-Doguwa added.
The APC
had zoned the position of Majority Leader to the South-West and recommended
Gbajabiamila to occupy the seat.
The
party also zoned the office of Deputy Leader to the North-West and had
recommended Ado-Doguwa to occupy the office.
The
party zoned the offices of Chief Whip and Deputy Whip to the North-East and
South-South respectively.
But the
North-East and South-South later swapped the positions.
The 8th
Assembly Consolidation Group led by Dogara had opposed the party and instead
proposed to have the North-West (Ado-Doguwa) occupy the office of Majority
Leader.
Dogara
zoned the post of Deputy Leader to the North-Central while he also zoned the
position of the Chief Whip to the South-South and that of the Deputy Whip to
the South-East.
It will
be recalled that the refusal of Dogara to zone the offices as recommended by
the party had led to the fracas on the floor of the House on June 25, forcing
lawmakers to proceed on a four-week break.
While
the Speaker claimed that his decision was in the interest of “federal
character,” the Gbajabiamila group had argued that “party supremacy” must
prevail.
Ado-Doguwa
has been a staunch supporter of Gbajabiamila who took active part in the June
25 fighting.
He was
the member who climbed a desk right in front of Dogara, shouting that the
party’s decision must be obeyed.
Investigations
confirmed
a speculation that Ado-Doguwa had come under pressure to back down and accept
the offer by the Speaker.
His new
stance also confirmed a speculation that Dogara had broken the ranks of the APC
Loyalists Group, using the offer made to Ado-Doguwa as the major bait.
On
Thursday last week, Ado-Doguwa had disclosed that the group
was ready to engage the Dogara group in a “give and take discussions.”
“We are
ready to sit and talk. We will give something and we believe they too can give
up something,” he said.
But the
spokesman for the Gbajabiamila group, Mr. Nasiru Zango-Daura, gave a different
position, insisting that the group would not go against the stance of the APC.
Findings
showed that Dogara and Ado-Doguwa had met twice and the Speaker, on both
occasions, reportedly assured him that he was ready to work with the group if
he (Ado-Doguwa) would accept to be the Majority Leader.
“There
was a divide and rule strategy the Speaker adopted, knowing that the North-West
has the highest number of 86 APC members in the House.
“He
broke their ranks and with the pressure mounted on Ado-Doguwa, he began to
weigh his options,” a senior House official informed on Wednesday.
Gbajabiamila
did not respond to the latest development when his reactions were sought on
Wednesday.
He did
not reply texts messages our correspondent sent to him on the subject.
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