APGA Opposes Muslim-Muslim Tickets for House Speaker, Deputy

Ahead of next tomorrow’s inauguration of the ninth National Assembly, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has said it is opposes an attempt to install two Muslims as the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The party said it is against the move by the preferred candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Speaker of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, to endorse Hon. Ahmed Idris Watse as his deputy.

The National Chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Oye, who spoke exclusively in an interview with journalists at the weekend, said the party was making smart moves and aligning with forces in order for its members to secure juicy committee positions in the National Assembly.

"We have 10 House of Representatives members and we have been interacting with them on the way forward. For the House, we are looking at two candidates, one from North Central and the other from Southwest. For me, the problem I have with Gbajabiamila is that he is picking Watse from Plateau State as his deputy who is also a Muslim. Gbajabiamila used to be a Christian but now he is a Muslim, he has even gone to Mecca so you can’t have Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House as Muslims, it won’t work in a country that is secular," he said.

On the contrary, Oye said the arrangement being put forward by the APC in the Senate seems a bit balanced with the Senate presidency to going to Senator Ahmed Lawan, a Muslim from the Northeast while the deputy Senate president goes to a Christian from the South-south zone.

According to Oye, "I have looked at the politics of the National Assembly; the Senate presidency is going to the Northeast while the Deputy Senate president is going to South-south from all that I have gathered.”

Oye said the choice by APC is good to reward him, adding that "Lawan missed it in 2015 so it is only fair that he gets it this time around."

When asked about his position on the likelihood  that the country may end up having a Muslim president, Senate president, Speaker House of Representatives and Chief Justice of Federation, Oye said the issue has become inevitable and is no longer something that can be easily fixed.

He said the country may have to leave with this at least for now since the Vice President is a Christian.

"That is why I am telling you that we must balance it in the Speakership of the House.

"It is something that is inevitable there is nothing you can do about it. If you want to change this route, change the course of history, you have to work towards it maybe in 2023 but as for this one it has happened, you can’t change it,” he said.

He added: "For APGA, we are playing the politics so that at the end of the day, we will not be left behind. So we will be able to get juicy committees in the House of which we are very confident about. Our party is allying with forces here because it is necessary and I won’t tell you where we are heading."