CAN WE HAVE AN INDEPENDENT 10TH ASSEMBLY?

At the beginning of every marathon race, the numbers usually indicate the interests to participate. The assumption is that with a little push, they could get to breast the tape, but as the race commences, many drift off the track, falling by the way side.

They comprise those who did not adequately weigh in the odds in the first place and assume it was going to be a walk in the park; those who did not practice enough to withstand the rigours of long haul; those who only want to be seen as competing just for the fun of it and having satisfied their cravings fall out of the race; those who never intended to reach the finishing line but want to use the opportunity to strike a bargain; and the really serious ones who are focused and determined to win the race and get the coveted price.

Barely 24 hours to the contest for the House of Representatives leadership seats, the categories of runners have begun to fully manifest. At the commencement of the race, no less than seven persons indicated interest in vying for the Speakership position of the 10th Assembly.

They include the deputy speaker of the Ninth Assembly, Ahmed Idris Wase; House committee chairman on appropriation, Mukhtar Aliyu Betara; his counterpart in the committee on navy, Adamu Yusuf Gagdi; Soli Sada; former chairman on intelligence, Aminu Jaji and Abbas Tajudeen. But as at today, many of the aspirants have pulled out of the race due to varying reasons. As at Sunday evening, two prominent aspirants, Betara and Gagdi declared their intentions to withdraw from the speakership race in what appears to be the result of coercion since they were not even allowed to make the announcement themselves but it was done on their behalf by the Vice President, Kashim Shettima.

They were said to have stepped down for Tajudeen who is said to be the preferred choice of the executive arm of government.

The decision to side with Tajudeen had initially led to protest by the other six aspirants who have vowed to work and support one another. But with the pulling out of these aspirants, Wase stands out as the candidate to beat.

He has refused to step down and from all indications, is prepared to go the whole hog given that his intention to contest the position was in the first place not occasioned by sensationalism, but the deep belief that he has what it takes to lead the House of Representatives effectively.

Most worrisome is the manner some of the aspirants were coaxed to step down, which has confirmed the suspicion that the executive wants to be the one to foist a leadership on the House of Representatives rather than allow the lawmakers make their choices. Many fear that if this is allowed, it will further clip the wings of the legislative arm government at a time when the tag of a rubber stamp legislature is yet to be removed from the immediate past Assembly.

Many recall how governors have taken over the running of the legislature in their respective states which has crippled democracy at that level to the extent that the legislators for several times could not even vote for their own independence for fear of persecution. If this unfortunate scenario is projected to the national level, there is the fear that democracy will be under serious threat as the legislature would not only be a rubber stamp but become a booster station for the voice of the executive.

Now that the Honourable Members-elect have seen who among the contestants are serious and not pliable or given to fear or intimidation, they are better informed to know who to cast their votes for if what they want is an independent parliament, not one tied to the apron strings of the executive.

Thadeus Maidawa, Abuja