By Gift Chapi-Odekina
The minority caucus of Members-elect in the House of Representatives has resolved to contest the office of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the 10th National Assembly.
The caucus also resolved to set up an eleven-man Committee to scout for a credible and acceptable candidate that would vie for those offices, and then actively seek the unification of Nigerians along ethno-religious lines
These resolutions were contained in a communique issued at the end of the second extraordinary meeting held on Tuesday at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja, ahead of the inauguration of the 10th Assembly on June 13.
The caucus comprises of members of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Social Democratic Party (SDP), African Democratic Party (ADC), Youth Progressive Party (YPP), and New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP).
The communique reads in part: “The Greater Majority with more than 180 elected members (being over 50% of the elected member) will remain one indivisible coalition during the 10th National Assembly, with the interest of the country as its driving force
“That the greater Majority of the 10” National Assembly will be continually guided by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, with the collective interest of Nigerians being its major concern.
“To assure Nigerians not to lose hope due to the country’s current unpleasant situation, including the disunity plaguing the nation, which is the direct consequence of APC’s misrule and that the Greater majority of the incoming 10° National assembly will remedy these problems as a matter of priority. 6.The Great majority will continue to unify the coalition of opposition parties so that it can be an effective check on the ruling party in order to safeguard”.
Earlier the convener of the meeting, Hon. Fredrick Agbedi (PDP) Bayelsa State, in his welcome address congratulated all the members of the Minority Parties for the successes so far and urged them to stay together for their common good.
According to Agbedi, the meeting was organised “to enable us to access the work we have done in our various zones” and reminded members on the need to stay focused and not be distracted.
The Leader of the Labour Party, Hon George Ozodinobi, who spoke on behalf of the South-East Caucus, said the South-East members of the Minority Caucus have resolved to change the narrative.
He noted that the South-East caucus has resolved to follow where other caucus members has aligned with to have a new Nigeria.
“We are in totally with the greater minority. Our major aim is to have a new Nigeria and that new Nigeria, we are urging other caucuses to join to have a new Nigeria”. Hon Ozodinobi said.
Hon. Oluwole Oke, urged all Minority Caucus members to remain united, assuring that the South-West is fully aligned with the decisions of the caucuses.
“We are committed to this unity, to this progress, to this understanding that we shall work together to deliver to Nigerians the dividends of democracy.
That we shall live up to the expectations of section four of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria”. Hon Oke said.
He reiterated that the South-West caucus was committed to giving their various parties the proper image based on their mandates.
From the North-East, Hon. Awalu Gwadabe, said that the 10th Assembly was unique as the rulling party does not have the highest number of members.
” Today, the tenth National Assembly as well as the party that is rulling the country does not have two-third members, neither do we as the greater minority. I believe we are going to give the rulling party a very serious challenge in the National Assembly once we stand united together irrespective of our party affiliations”. Hon Gwadabe said.
He added that the North-East caucus would make its position known in a matter of days.
The North-Central zone, represented by Hon Pastor Ojena, said that for the greater minority to succeed, members must put aside their personal interests.
According to him, in order to achieve the desired goal, members must work as a team.
Other speakers from other zones also pledged to help the caucus to succeed.
On her part, Hon Lilian Orogbu
re-echoed the inclusion of women in the mainstream affairs of the National Assembly; adding that the issues of women in parliament must be respected.
“We are here to support this initiative. We are here to support the agenda wr are here to support the ideology and we crave for more involvement of women in this group”. Hon Orogbu said.
On their part, members of the North-West caucus represented by Hon. MD Shehu, said that the zone was in on the ideas of the greater minority caucus.
He added that all members must have the sincerity of purpose in the journey.
