Members of the nation's opposition parties are exhorted to vote for Mukthar Betara, the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations in the 9th Assembly, as Speaker of the House of Representatives in the 10th Assembly.

Following allegations that President Bola Tinubu and the party's leadership support former Akwa Ibom State governor, Senator Godswill Akpabio, for the 10th Senate President position, the All Progressives Congress (APC) split internally.

According to weekend reports from the opposing faction, senators are now shifting their attention to Yari and Betara.

Speaking through his campaign director-general, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, Yari claimed that Akpabio is currently in a panic, which led to what he termed a "preposterous statement" made by the director-general of Akpabio's campaign group, Senator Ali Ndume, that Yari's only claim to the Senate presidency was money.

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However, some APC legislators under the auspices of the G6 Coalition vehemently opposed the zoning arrangement, characterizing it as "an unconstitutional imposition of the 10th Assembly's leadership by forces outside the National Assembly."

It was reported that a number of newly elected and re-elected PDP and LP federal legislators had rejected the entreaties of their parties' leadership to endorse some preferred aspirants presented to them in advance of the proclamation of the 10th National Assembly and election of chief officers.

According to Leadership, the legislators of the opposition parties have stated that they are prepared for a showdown with the party leadership over the selection of the 10th National Assembly's leaders.

The majority of federal legislators elected on the platform of opposition parties support the zoning plan adopted by the governing APC for the 10th Assembly's leadership.

According to reports, the legislators have pledged their support to the ruling party, which has pitted them against the leadership of their respective parties.

According to sources in the know, the leadership of the two major opposition platforms intends to scuttle the zoning formula of the APC for the leadership of the 10th Assembly and prevent the election of the ruling party's preferred aspirants in the crucial legislative leadership election on June 13.

ALSO READ:  Shettima begs Yari to grant Kalu the 10th Senate Presidency.

PDP NWC Retreat 

The National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP, in collaboration with the PDP Governors' Forum, held a weekend retreat in Bauchi, the state capital of Bauchi, in response to the events.

According to reports, the party leadership hoped to devise strategies and procedures to thwart the APC's leadership succession plans for the 10th Assembly.

While it is not yet clear what the party leadership intends, the NWC brought other opposition lawmakers to the Bauchi forum ostensibly to garner sufficient support to meet the objective and achieve results.

Reports claimed that the retreat was sponsored and financed by forces outside of the PDP with an interest in the leadership of the 10th Assembly, which elicited conflicting reactions.

Reportedly, some candidates for Senate president and House speaker relocated to Bauchi during the weekend retreat, ostensibly to observe the ceremony's progress.

The PDP leadership collaborated with its LP counterpart in a concerted effort to prevent the APC's desire from coming to fruition, it was learned.

Why legislators elected on other platforms were invited to the PDP retreat could not be determined. The PDP leadership's concerted efforts to persuade legislators to support Yari and Betara were, according to reports, resoundingly rejected by lawmakers.

A Labour Party-elected federal lawmaker, while describing in detail the events that transpired in Bauchi, stated that the retreat was evidently funded by some aggrieved APC candidates for the Senate presidency and Speakership positions.

He questioned why elected LP members were mobilized to the Bauchi retreat of another opposition party.

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The lawmaker said,

 “All these retreats going on across the country, these private jets, hotel accommodation, logistics, who is funding and bankrolling them? It’s surely beyond the reach of any of the opposition political parties. Every grown up and sensible adult will wonder in his or her heart about who’s behind the expenses of all these retreats going on across the country?”

“My greatest fear is where all these will land us at the end. I pray this is not where the crack of our party (LP) will start. A crack far bigger than the one the national secretariat is facing. We should not blame external people when we use our hearts as it is.

“What are LP members doing at PDP’s retreat in Bauchi? I have seen tougher crises in my life but have not seen this kind of poor management. We still have time to control this one before it spills like milk on the sand. The greediness of the chairmanship of the committee is what is causing all these problems.”

On his part, a PDP Senator-elect at PDP’s Bauchi retreat said: 

“The PDP’s NWC invited some elected members on the platform of the minority political parties, especially LP, to the Bauchi retreat. Initially, we were surprised that elected lawmakers from other platforms other than PDP were brought into the retreat.

“They were brought into Bauchi to endorse Senator Yari and Hon. Betara along with their PDP counterparts, and a communiqué was supposed to be issued to the effect that both the PDP and LP have endorsed the aspiration of Senator Yari and Hon. Mukthar Betara, respectively for the Senate Presidency and the speakership of the House of the 10th Assembly,” the politician told Leadership during an interview.

Barrister Benedict Etanabene, who will represent the Okpe/Sapele/Uvwie federal constituency in Delta State, corroborated the pressures on opposition members-elect to vote for the preferred candidates for the leadership of their political parties.

Etanabene urged LP leaders to exercise restraint and prudence in an effort to thwart the governing party's zoning agenda, adding that the selection of Yari and Betara by opposition party leaders lacked justice and integrity.