9th Speakership race: APC, PDP caucuses to strike deal

Contrary to speculations that the caucus of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the House of Representatives has endorsed a candidate for the office of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker, it has been reported that the caucus has not endorsed any candidate.The caucus has also stated that the endorsement of Femi Gbajabiamila by the South East and Rivers State governors during the week has little meaning to it.The PDP lawmakers maintained that no one else but members of the House would be there on the day of voting for the principal officers of the 9th House.Speaking on Thursday in Abuja after a meeting with the House Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, who is contesting the Speakership position, Deputy Minority Leader, Chukwuka Onyema said the interaction was meant to have a knowledge of what the aspirant has in place if he eventually wins.He said: Everybody came to tell us why they want to be Speaker; what they are going to do to improve the House and the relationship among the members. Thats the whole essence of the meeting.All the candidates who appeared before us said they know they cant run the House without the minority parties, especially the PDP, against a statement credited to someone to that effect.Read Also:Why were backing Gbajabiamila, by Rep-electWe dont have any preferred candidate yet; we are going to sit as a caucus, deliberate on it, analyze it and then, come up with our position.I wish we could strike a deal but no deal yet.However, speaking on the same issue, the Director General (DG) of the Femi Gbajabiamila Campaign Council, Abdulmumin Jibrin (APC, Kano), disclosed that an understanding is expected to be reached with the main opposition party within two days as negotiations are ongoing.According to him, the understanding has become very pertinent in the interest of the institution and the nation at large, while adding that APC is not averse to ceding some important Committees to the opposition, in contrast to the position of the Party Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.He said: On the issue of apportionment responsibilities at the 9th Assembly, we requested the PDP to raise a Committee to meet with the APC caucus in the next 48 hours to cede some positions to the PDP in the spirit of unity.The reality is that after winning the election, it is again, one House. So, we have confirmed to the PDP that we will run an inclusive House and we have commenced a negotiation to see the kind of positions to cede to the PDP members.
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