Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has stated that any plan by political parties to impose presiding officers on the incoming 9th Assembly would fail.

Dogara, who spoke on Monday at the second leg of the orientation programme for Senators and members-elect of the incoming Assembly, said that the leadership that will lift the standard of the legislature beyond the stage the 8th Assembly had taken it is desirable for the new assembly.

He said: “I am not here to dictate to parties. They have their manifestos and they know how to conduct their businesses. It is always better for the leadership of the legislature from members but where leadership has been forced on the people, it doesn’t usually endure.

“If you look at the history of the National Assembly, it (imposition) has never endured. The leadership selection process from outside the chamber has always been causing a crisis in the Assembly. Parties should ensure that whoever they are supporting have the backing of the legislators so that they can accept such candidate because they own the process and they own the leadership.

“That way, they will always come out to defend it. But in a situation where it (leadership) is forced literally, driven down the throat of members, in most cases, it doesn’t work, even in the Senate, it doesn’t augur well.”

According to Dogara, leadership is something that emerges from people adding that those of them who have gone through it have known how it is done.

He added: “My advice is that we study those going in for these positions to avoid less rancour. At the end of the day, we pray that we have who would be able to sustain what we have achieved in the 8th Assembly and even surpassed our achievements.

“We don’t want any leadership that will set us back. We have made a lot of mileage. I will advise members to actually look out for those who are contesting and see who is in the race that would perform better than the records of the current assembly.”

Equally speaking at the orientation programme, former Governor of Benue State, Hon Gabriel Suswan, who is a Senator-elect from the state, said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) should have learnt from the past experience.

He said that it was too early for the APC to roll out names of favoured candidates for positions, adding that from experience, those who names were advertised end up not getting the top post.

He stated: “From my experience, I think the ruling party should have learnt from their past experience. Since 1999, it has always an issue when names are thrown up. Those names are usually rejected even if the candidates are well-qualified members of the National Assembly. It is even too early for the APC to bring up names.

“When subterranean moves are made from outside and produce presiding officers, there is likelihood and tendencies that some members would stoutly object to it. There might likely be surprises even within the APC because there are lots of resistances. We are talking to a lot of them.

“They are just keeping quiet but what would happen on the floor will be different because it is we that are going to vote. People who are bringing up names will not vote. So, you should expect anything but that is not to say that the people whose names have been bandied are not qualified. Ahmad Lawan has been a federal lawmaker since 1999, he is very vast and experience. I wouldn’t mind him as a Senate president but because he is appearing as if there is an imposition.

“People are beginning to question him. Ordinarily, Lawan is a complete gentleman who should be Senate president but the fact that people are feeling that he is the party’s choice is a factor. The same thing is affecting Femi Gbajabiamila who has been in the House for a long time. He is a very experienced lawmaker who will make a very good speaker but the fact that members believe that he is the party’s choice will lead to resistance.

“That is how it has been happening since 1999. The three people who are contesting the Senate presidency are all APC members and whoever that emerges will be loyal. It is the impression of an imposition that is a problem. I was in the House of Representatives for eight years and there was no time that the person nominated by the party became the presiding officer. We are all matured and people want to freely express themselves after all we are equal.”

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