House of Reps speakership: Despite APC leadership manipulation, I will defeat Gbajabiamila on Tuesday, says Dogara

Saturday’s election of Hon Femi Gbajabiamila as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for speakership of the House of Representatives has been described as illegal, unconstitutional and an embarrassment “which did not happen even at the height of the PDP impunity”.
Hon. Yakubu Dogara, a contestant for the position on the APC platform, who spoke on Saturday, said despite the manipulation by the party leadership, he would defeat Gbajabiamila on Tuesday when the Eighth Asssembly is inaugurated.
An angry Dogara said it was unfortunate that the party leadership, led by Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, could not manage success, less than two weeks that the APC takes over power at the national level and many states.
Gbajabiamila, representing Surulere 1 Federal Constituency, emerged the winner of the primaries conducted by the party in Abuja for a consensus candidate for the speakership.
Dogara and others walked out.
Gbajabiamila was said to have polled 154 votes of the 181 accredited voters for the election. Three votes were given to Dogara.
To Dogara, such an impunity cannot stand.
Hon Abdulmumin Jibrin, one of the strong supporters of Dogara, also said he was embarrassed by the conduct of the party leadership.
He told Channels TV on Saturday night: “How could you organise an election without procedure? It was just a meeting they called, that Chief Oyegun would interact with us. That was the impression they gave us. What are they afraid of?
There is nothing like primaries for speakership in the APC constitution and Nigeria’s constitution so, this is clearly illegal.
“Everything was stage-managed and it is very embarrassing. A shame. Even at the height of impunity of the PDP, we did not see anything like this. This undermines the constitution of the party. The speakership should be decided on the floor of the House”.
Also, a statement on Saturday by Dogara, signed by Jibrin for the Yakubu Dogara Consolidation Group and entitled ‘Our Stand on the Illegality perpetrated by leadership of the All Progressives Congress’, reads: “We in the 8th Assembly Consolidation Group of Hon. Yakubu Dogara wish to state our position on the event of today Saturday 6th June 2015. “We got invitation for a meeting summoned by the APC leadership and we went there with the expectation the party wanted to give us last word ahead of Tuesday’s inauguration of the House.
“However, we began to notice some moves in the hall where members supporting Hon Femi Gbajabiamila started campaigning and soon, we saw ballot papers being moved in the hall. The National Chairman of the party, Chief John Oyegun, informed us that they were going to conduct a mock, straw or primary election.
“The 8th Assembly Consolidation Group mandated Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin to speak on our behalf. First, we read out the statement issued by our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, on the election of National Assembly leadership. We then told Chief Oyegun that it is either he is disagreeing with the President, undermining his stance, or does not agree that the president is the leader of the party.
“Secondly, we informed the party that the remaining two aspirants in the race for the Speaker are of the APC since no PDP member is contesting for the position. Consequently, we demanded that the process be delayed with, at least, 24 hours to enable us prepare and mobilise our members. After raising these objections, the national chairman, Chief Oyegun, did not respond to any of the points raised. We should, therefore, be allowed to sort it out among ourselves on Tuesday.
“Thirdly, if we were coming for election, we ought to have been notified well ahead. We, therefore, view this as an ambush, manipulative and indicative of the fact that the party leadership came with a predetermined position which was skewed to favour Hon Gbajabiamila.
“Fourthly, we also informed the APC leadership that the process they were about doing is contrary to the provisions of the party’s constitution which did not prescribe that a primary election be conducted for the Speakership, contrary to the provisions of the House Standing Orders and above all, contrary to the provisions of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The next Speaker of the House should be allowed to be elected in tandem with the constitution. Consequently, we demanded that the process be delayed with, at least, 24 hours to enable us to prepare and mobilise our members. After raising these objections, the national chairman, Chief Oyegun, did not respond to any of the points raised initially. The chairman agreed to halt the process but one hour later, the National Vice Chairman, North, Senator Lawal Shuaibu, came up and said the process must go on whether we like it or not. We had no option than to walk out of the hall and address the press.
“The election of the House Speaker is not an exclusivity of the APC but include all members from all political parties. Our position is that we are not a party to what they did and we maintain that the election of the Speaker of the House of Representatives cannot be conducted outside the chamber of the House and we are ready to participate in that process on Tuesday, 9th June, 2015”.