The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Adams Oshiomhole, has cautioned the party members elected into the 9th Assembly to ensure no member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, gets any leadership position when convened.
He insisted that the party members must chair all committees in the legislature except the one statutorily assigned to the opposition.
Oshiomhole, who spoke at the meeting with members-elect of the House of Representatives at the Shehu Musa Yar’adua Centre, Abuja on Monday, said APC would only concede position reserved for minority members.
He advised the APC House of Reps members- elect to use their overwhelming majority in the House, to the party’s advantage.
He said, “This time round, we must ensure that we have a leadership of the National Assembly that shares the vision of the executive. Although we will adhere to the principle of separation of powers but there is only one government and unless the various arms pursue the same agenda, it is difficult for the executive to realise its vision because legislative backing is often require for the executive actions.
“So, I will expect that you bear it in mind that we are one family joined together as shown in our broom, with a shared commitment to bail Nigeria out of the condition in which we found it in 2015. You have the numbers and we will use the numbers to ensure that we have a leadership that commands the trust and the respect of all the members of the House of Representatives.
“We have the number 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 the 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.
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“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 the APC members. If the Nigeria people wanted them to be chairmen of committees they would have voted for them.
“So, all the chairmen of committees, except the one that is statutorily reserved for the opposition, which is Public Accounts, they can have that. So, we would not do the kind of thing that happened the last time in which some APC members became distant spectators in the management of committees, when the 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 so that they can become the kingmaker and in return the person will offer them some chairmanship seats. I’m sure you 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 – that majority must have their way but minority must be allowed to have their say.
“So, the PDP and other minority parties can have their say but working together the APC must have its way in legislative agenda, in the leadership of the National Assembly and the leadership of the committees in the National Assembly.
