Ex-rep: Party shouldn’t dictate who leads n’assembly — it’s dangerous for democracy

Abubakar Chika, a former member of the house of representatives, says it is undemocratic for the All Progressives Congress (APC) to nominate a candidate for the position of speaker in the 10th assembly.

Chika, who was a member of the 8th assembly, spoke on Wednesday when he appeared on a news programme on Arise TV.

On Monday, the APC nominated Tajudeen Abbas and Benjamin Kalu as preferred choices for the speaker and deputy positions in the 10th assembly.

The party’s decision has been criticised by other aspirants in the race.

Chika said the legislature is an independent arm of government, noting that only the lawmakers can choose among themselves who to lead them.

“Neither the president nor the party has the right to dictate who should lead the national assembly,” he said.

“The national assembly like any other arm of government is independent to decide who will lead the arm of government. So, I don’t see any reason that either the party or anyone will micro-zone or nano-zone. So, you can’t micro-zone the legislature. This is undemocratic and very dangerous to democracy and I don’t think this will fly.

“I have been speaking about the injustice we have been having within the APC and it is not because I have an interest in Aliyu Betara but because I am speaking as a former legislature who doesn’t want to see that arm of government being bastardised in dictatorship.

“APC has been cantankerous because of the advice that has been coming from so many quarters. You can see even from the sharing of the seat of the legislature. How did you (APC) exclude the north-central? So I think it is a biased thing.

“APC should know that they do not have the majority — particularly in the house of reps. The minority is greater in number and with that, you can’t dictate. The law did not say APC member-elect must be the speaker. The law says members must choose among themselves. So, if APC becomes very careless as a single party even as a majority, other people will take it up.

The former lawmaker asked APC to “rethink” its decision on nominating candidates for the principal offices, adding that in a democracy people are allowed to choose who leads.

He said Muktar Betara, a lawmaker from Borno who is also vying for the speakership position, is competent and has the legislative experience needed to steer the affairs of lower parliament.

Chika added that the party should have carried all the contestants along before making the zoning decision.