RACE FOR THE SPEAKERSHIP OF THE HOUSE OF REPS
Benjamin Kalu has what it takes to lead the House of Representatives and take it to higher level, contends Emeka Nwosu
The 2023 General Elections have come and gone, but bringing in its wake a lot of upsets and surprises, especially in the outcomes of the National Assembly polls. Many old Members could not secure return tickets. Indeed, the attrition rate is so high that over two-thirds of the old law makers lost their bids to return to the House. In the incoming 10th House of Representatives, new members are over 280 in number. This is very interesting.
The implication of the current demographics of the House of Representatives is that the new members, if they act in unison, can determine who gets what in the leadership of the House. Both the old Members that were re-elected and the new ones, last week in Abuja, received their Certificates of Return from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Since then, the campaigns by interested candidates have acquired increased momentum, pending the decision of the majority party, All Peoples Congress (APC) to zone the top positions in the National Assembly. Given the fluid situation at the moment, interested candidates from different zones of the country have thrown their hats into the ring.
They include the out-going Deputy Speaker, Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase and Hon. Yusuf Adamu Gagdi, both from Plateau State in North Central; Hon. Muktar Aliyu Betera from Borno State in North East, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, PhD from Kaduna State, Hon. Sanni Jaji from Zamfara and Hon. Sada Soli from Katsina State, all in the North West and Hon. Benjamin Kalu from Abia State in South East. There are indications that there are other aspirants who are campaigning underground waiting for the decision of the APC on the zoning of the offices.
As at now, the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is from the South West while his Deputy, Senator Kashim Shettima is from the North East. The North West is making strenuous demand for the office of the Senate President. The zone is anchoring their demand on the ground that the bulk of the votes that gave Tinubu victory came from the North West. There is a clear justification for their demand which can hardly be faulted.
In the case of the North Central, their clamour for the Speakership is not getting enough support because the zone is holding the Chairmanship of the Party courtesy of Senator Abdullahi Adamu. It will be very unlikely that the North Central Zone would be allowed to hold the positions of National Chairman and Speaker at the same time. That leaves out the South South and South East as the two Zones to be considered for the Speakership slot. But information from the grapevines suggests that the APC may zone the position of the Deputy Senate President to the South South. If that happens, the Speakership position may berth in the South East.
This is where the Benjamin Kalu factor comes in. He is one of the only three old Members of the House that returned from the South East. Other APC Members-elect from the South East are first timers who, going by the ranking rules of the House, are not in consideration for the position of Speaker. One of the two returning Members from the South East is Mariam Onuoha from Okigwe in Imo State.
Rep Kalu towers high and above his contemporaries from the South East, given his visibility and impeccable credentials. He is currently the Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs; a position he has discharged most creditably to the admiration of his colleagues and indeed, the nation. As the spokesman of the House, he has shown excellent communication skills. In the last four years, acting on the instrumentality of his Committee, he has done commendably well in positively projecting the image of the House in the public space.
Benjamin Kalu is a man of character, competence and integrity who has succeeded in building bridges of unity and understanding across the various geo-political divides in the Parliament. It is no wonder that he has continued to receive accolades from major players in the polity. According to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila: “He is a Chairman who continues to think outside the box and who is taking the media committee to a towering height like never before in the National Assembly. His capacity, his ability, his competence, his compassion and that of the committee remains unparalleled in the history of media committee of the House of Representatives”.
As for the Senate President, Senator Ahmed Lawan, Rep. Kalu has done well as the spokesman of the House. His words: “He speaks not only for the House of Representatives but for the entire National Assembly; and he has done that so well. Abia is blessed to have Rep. Benjamin Kalu”.
On his part, the Abia State Governor who is of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu said this of Kalu: “Hon. Benjamin Kalu is the representative for Abia State not Bende alone; and his style of politics without bitterness has closed the door to rancor and acrimony among politicians of diverse party colours”.
These testimonies clearly show that Hon. Benjamin Kalu is a man of the people who has what it takes to lead the House of Representatives and take it to higher level. As the APC is being awaited on its zoning decisions, there is every hope that Hon. Benjamin Kalu would emerge victorious at the end of the day.
Dr. Nwosu, a Political Analyst, writes from Abuja
