APC Is Morally Bound To Zone Speakership To North Central – Hon Adelegbe

Hon Timehin Adelegbe, who recently won a return bid to the National Assembly, represents Owo/Ose Federal Constituency of Ondo State in the House of Representatives. In this interview with CHIBUZO UKAIBE, he speaks on the intricate tussle for the 10th National Assembly leadership..

As a member of that chamber who recently won a fresh mandate, can you give us an appraisal of that Assembly in terms of performance?

To the best of my knowledge and ability, the 9th Assembly is a stable Assembly because if you look at the past, there were threats of impeachment here and there which usually mar a tenure of an Assembly. However, this 9th Assembly has been very stable. That stability of the 9th Assembly under the leadership style of the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, speaks volume. He has done very well for the Assembly. However, this will not be complete without a loyal deputy. His deputy, Idris Wase, has been there for him, he has done very well for him and the 9th Assembly has come out victorious. A lot of bills and motions have been passed which the executive has worked on.

There is a perception that both chambers were a rubber stamp parliament of the executive. Obviously, those of you on this other side see it as building harmony between the executive and the legislature. How do you disabuse the minds of those who believe you did not put the executive on its toes?

No, I don’t really believe that we were a rubber stamp because for this country to grow at this period, the executive needs much of the cooperation of the National Assembly. All we are looking for is for Nigeria to grow. We cannot grow when we are fighting. There are many ways of correcting the executive through various oversight functions which the House is noted for and we have done that excellently well. We don’t need to wash our dirty linens outside. All we want is for Nigeria to be prosperous and grow.

The smooth, cordial relationship between the executive and the parliament is predicated on the fact that the 9th Assembly has a comfortable majority but the fear out there is that the emerging 10th Assembly might not enjoy that in terms of having a comfortable majority to pull through?

Yes, you are correct. However, you know we are all politicians. The structure or composition of the National Assembly as we speak of the 9th Assembly is not a straight jacketed thing because no party can make claim to a huge majority. However, the trust we have is that the leadership of our party knows the right thing to do. We are all politicians, and we know about relationship building. Anyone that is campaigning now to be the Speaker has to carry everybody along. So that is why I said we are all politicians, we know how to navigate on all these things.

That brings us to the issue of zoning of different positions in the National Assembly. They have four positions that are being contested for. From what you have seen with the current President from the South West and his Vice from the North East, which region would you advise the party to zone the speakership and deputy positions to?

Naturally, it is a very simple thing if we don’t put emotions into it. The North and South have three regions each. The South West has produced the President, naturally, the Speaker can not come from the South West. North East has picked the Vice President, naturally the Speaker can not come from that area which means from the two bipolar levels of South and North, two regions are left. So, in the North, we are left with North West and North Central. And looking at the advent of democracy till today, the North West has produced four speakers. They produced Aminu Tambuwal, Salisu Buhari, Ghali Na’abba and Aminu Masari.
So, morally this should not be a big thing. Naturally, it should just go to the North Central without causing instability in the National Assembly. Yes, North West has contributed hugely to the electoral victory of Asiwaju Tinubu. Can we say that because of the electoral victory, the South East and South South should be blocked out from taking any leadership position in National Assembly? No.

So in this case where will you put North West which by peoples estimation contributed the highest votes for the president-elect if you are to advise the party?

In fact, if I am to advise, this is very simple, there is no way again that since the North Eaast has picked the Vice President, South West has picked the President, naturally the Senate President should either come from the South South or South East. And since North West has produced four speakers before, they should look into the area of Deputy President of the Senate and allow North Central which has enjoyed the luxury of being President of the Senate before now to taste the speakership. There shouldn’t be too much emotion in this. This is very simple.

So, even within that same North Central, can you narrow it down to an individual or it should be left open for any ranking member?

If you look at it like I said, for now to me, we have three formidable members that are in this race generally, we have my friend, Hon Muktar Aliyu Betara, chairman of Appropriation, we are very close but he is from North East (from Borno). Quickly people will say Gbajabiamila is from Lagos but do we continue to make wrong decisions always? A time will come that we should make the right decision. So because our Vice President-elect is from Borno State we will also go and pick the Speaker from there. Nigeria is big, no matter the volume of what you want to have, Nigeria is big. Now, the other guy is also my friend, Tajudeen Abbas who is also contesting from North West. You should know that having produced four speakers from there, it is a place you don’t have to look at again. You have to take the interest of the country at heart, not the volume of votes. Yes, the volume of votes is necessary but it’s not the ultimate because there are other positions that they can equally enjoy. So, my friend Betara, this might not be the best time for him because the Vice President comes from his place and Nigerians, we are learned and we know what to do.

North West should also be content that they have produced four speakers before. They should allow the North Central to take it. And coming to the North Central, we need to equally understand that in the 9th Assembly, I mentioned earlier on the stability that we enjoyed in this 9th Assembly.

With the brilliance of our Speaker with his cerebral attitude he has done very well. He wouldn’t have achieved it if he didn’t have a good deputy and when he was contesting at that time, the deputy was talked to and he slowed down for him to be the Speaker. So, Idris Wase is the natural successor without emotions. He should be a natural successor to that place and for him to maintain the stability of the National Assembly. Because if you don’t allow the party voice to matter and we allow somebody who is against the party decision to emerge then it will be difficult for the person to relate very well with our incoming President. So, that brings me to the relationship between Wase and our Speaker, they have a very good relationship. I know that at a time, our speaker, Gbajabiamila will raise Wase hands up because he has given him very good support. He is a loyal ally so Wase should be a natural successor. It is not a thing that we should be making too much noise on.

Wase has visited the governor of your state, Rotimi Akeredolu. Should that be taken that Wase has been adopted as the favoured candidate of the South West governors?

I am an Akeredolu person to the core. I believe in him because he is always not only courageous but straightforward. He has told me that what is fair is fair and that Wase should be a natural successor to maintain the stability of the National Assembly and also enhance the relationship between the Assembly and the executive. So, my governor said that it is his own personal opinion. He said for his own personal opinion he is supporting Wase and North Central to pick it. You know Akeredolu is not the person that will mince his words. So I have met with him, I have told him, he said (Timehin) please it is not a thing you should think about. Can we take the speaker to the North East where our Vice President is from or do we put it in the North West where we have produced four speakers before and now abandoned the current Deputy Speaker? By the time a Speaker emerges, where will you place him? Do you want him to be a floor member having served the current Speaker diligently and loyally? So, he said he has adopted what he said and not only him, a lot of governors; Governor Yahaya Bello who will be the most senior governor on May 30 has also said this is where to go. Many of these governors will go on May 29 so it means he will be the most senior governor on May 30.

Statistics show that only 60 members of the 9th will be returning and drawing from the arguments of stability and also going from the fact that parliament is about experience, knowledge, antecedents. Considering that a whooping number of 300 members will be stepping into the floor of the chamber for the first time ever. How do you think the next leadership will cope with this thing in trying to stabilise early enough because stability is very important before you start talking about projects and laws?

You have made a very valid point. Yes, less than 100 members are returning out of 360. The turn over is very, very high. We have not gotten to that in this country where a member will stay there for life. If you go to western world there are some members of the parliament that have been there for 40 to 50 years but here it is difficult because Nigeria has not gotten to that level. Number one, the poverty level is very high so it brings in competition.

However, coming to the National Assembly that is where we need an experienced leader. And experienced leadership, Wase is capable, he has good character and he can deliver very well. He has been here for a very long time. He came to this House as an Action Congress representative moved to the Action Congress of Nigeria and then to APC. He is a progressive to the core. He respects the party very well so I know that he has the capacity to galvanise support and ensure a smooth relationship at the Chamber.

Back to the House leadership, there were press statements released by some youths calling on the national leadership of the party and the President-elect to consider zoning the Deputy Speaker of the House to South West and particularly Ondo State. Only four of you are returning members out of the nine that Ondo State produces. If you are offered the Deputy Speaker’s position will you consider it?

I think that we should take one step after the other. What is important now for our party is to come up with a Speaker that has the capacity. That is the centre point of everything. And before we will now say we want to look at the South West is it not important we wait for the zoning of these positions? If the Deputy Speaker comes to the South West, I think the leadership of the region will meet at one point or the other.

However, everybody is qualified to have the aspiration to be deputy speaker. As we speak, people from Ondo, Ekiti, Osun and even Lagos were the speaker comes from, want to be Deputy Speaker. So when we get to that level first, let’s bring it to our area. If we are honoured with the Deputy Speaker, I know the leadership of the party will sit down to decide.

For me as a person, you can not put a sweet in my mouth and I will swallow it because I have the capacity. I came into the National Assembly having done well as a banker and I think my first four years were a huge success. So, there is no parameter or hardline you give that I will not qualify to be but I just believe in us doing one thing after the other. For now, the speakership position is important. We don’t even need to push it too much because there is a natural successor. All of us should galvanise our support towards Idris Wase

You have just talked about zoning as promised by the hierarchy of the party. So you want to wait for that time before you will make up your mind but a lot of your colleagues are already making subterranean moves. Are you already making moves to at least galvanise support for yourself?

I think that I will not liken myself to the era of Obasanjo where they just brought him from prison to come and become President of this country. So, naturally, I think I am doing that but it is not the first thing in my mind because I don’t jump gun. I am a loyal person to the core and I am answerable to my governor, Akeredolu. Anything he tells me I will do. If he tells me to leave the National Assembly today, I will resign and leave. So, that is my own life.

So if it comes to the South West, I know he will not take decisions on his own. He will sit down with his colleagues to decide where to put it and if it comes to Ondo State all of us here believe in the leadership of our governor. He will sit us down and we will look at it together. It is not a thing that I will be fighting for and we are all party men. It is what the party says that we will follow. If the party says Timehin takes it, I will grab it.

Timehin Adelegbe
member representing Owo/Ose Federal Constituency,

That Idris Wase is a great misfit. Very unfit to be Speaker.

I don't understand why you reasoned North West not Qualified for SPEAKER of the 10th national assembly for Producing the speaker Four times . And at the same time you are supporting the Senate president seat to be zone to South East where produced Four Senate president from the same area.

If it is really a matter of equity and fairness let's South South Produce the Senate president and North Central produce the speaker of the 10th National Assembly.

Deputy Senate president to the North West and Deputy Speaker to the South East.

Mantahirdra:
I don't understand why you reasoned North West not Qualified for SPEAKER of the 10th national assembly for Producing the speaker Four times . And at the same time you are supporting the Senate president seat to be zone to South East where produced Four Senate president from the same area.

If it is really a matter of equity and fairness let's South South Produce the Senate president and North Central produce the speaker of the 10th National Assembly.

Deputy Senate president to the North West and Deputy Speaker to the South East.

I support this...
SS should produce the Senate President while the NC produce the Speaker..