Tinubu, Afenifere: Who anchors South West interests?
THE post-election power sharing bun_fights among the various geopolitical zones are, indeed very intriguing. Of particular interest is the case of the South West where the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, zoned the post of Speaker, House of Representatives.
In fact, it was supposed to be a two-cornered tussle between two ranking members of the House from the Zone, Hon. Mulikat Adeola_Akande and Hon. Muraina Ajibola.
However, the voting pattern of the electorate in the South West during the general elections suggested that the PDP was no longer wanted there. The electorate of the zone decisively voted out all PDP governors. They returned only one senator and six members of the House of Reps on the PDP platform. The rest were given to the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti and Oyo States and Labour
Party, LP, in Ondo State.
The PDP had performed very well in other zones, including South_South, South East, North East, North Central and North West (especially outside the presidential election). Majority of the people of the South East felt that keeping the post of Speaker in the South West, in spite of their low regard of the PDP, was misplaced, as some of the members of the House from their Zone wanted the post.
But the Presidency’s hasty offering of the post of Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, to the South East and appointment of a preferred candidate of the Zone in the person of Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, initially took the wind from the sail of their agitation for the post of Speaker.
Working arrangement
That, however, did not stop the chief campaigner for the post, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, rallying the rest of his colleagues from the zone in getting into a working arrangement with their peers from the North, where Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, was determined the “unfair” PDP zoning would not stand.
On Monday, June 6, 2011 when the seventh Session of the House of Representatives was inaugurated, the zoning agenda of the ruling party was shoved aside, as Tambuwal scored 252 votes as opposed to 90 votes given to Adeola-Akande to emerge Speaker. Ihedioha also emerged as the Deputy Speaker. Already, the Senate had returned four-term Senator David Mark as President of the Senate, while Senator Ike Ekweremadu was voted as his Deputy.
The net effect of this was that the South West Zone, which had always enjoyed a place of pride since the return of our democracy in 1999 (when it produced the President till 2007 and Speaker, House of Reps till 20110) found itself suddenly nowhere to be found in the line of official protocol.
The Tinubu factor
The failure of the South West to clinch the post of Speaker was not necessarily a result of any gang_up against the South West by other zones – as such. Rather, it was purely a play of democratic dynamics that led to it. The South West has the second largest number of seats in the House of Reps, and majority of them were won by the ACN in the last elections. While the defeated PDP camp wanted the Speaker’s seat for the Zone, the triumphant ACN did not want the PDP to have it.
They did not want to risk having a stump of the Party in the South West ranking high in the PDP Federal Government and posing any threat to their hold on power in the Zone. Thus, they decided to support Tambuwal’s quest for the post.
In fact, it was supposed to be a two-cornered tussle between two ranking members of the House from the Zone, Hon. Mulikat Adeola_Akande and Hon. Muraina Ajibola.
However, the voting pattern of the electorate in the South West during the general elections suggested that the PDP was no longer wanted there. The electorate of the zone decisively voted out all PDP governors. They returned only one senator and six members of the House of Reps on the PDP platform. The rest were given to the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti and Oyo States and Labour
Party, LP, in Ondo State.
The PDP had performed very well in other zones, including South_South, South East, North East, North Central and North West (especially outside the presidential election). Majority of the people of the South East felt that keeping the post of Speaker in the South West, in spite of their low regard of the PDP, was misplaced, as some of the members of the House from their Zone wanted the post.
Oluremi Tinubu; ACN leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Babatunde Fashola (SAN) during his -2nd term- swearing-in in as Governor of Lagos State
Working arrangement
That, however, did not stop the chief campaigner for the post, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, rallying the rest of his colleagues from the zone in getting into a working arrangement with their peers from the North, where Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, was determined the “unfair” PDP zoning would not stand.
On Monday, June 6, 2011 when the seventh Session of the House of Representatives was inaugurated, the zoning agenda of the ruling party was shoved aside, as Tambuwal scored 252 votes as opposed to 90 votes given to Adeola-Akande to emerge Speaker. Ihedioha also emerged as the Deputy Speaker. Already, the Senate had returned four-term Senator David Mark as President of the Senate, while Senator Ike Ekweremadu was voted as his Deputy.
The net effect of this was that the South West Zone, which had always enjoyed a place of pride since the return of our democracy in 1999 (when it produced the President till 2007 and Speaker, House of Reps till 20110) found itself suddenly nowhere to be found in the line of official protocol.
The Tinubu factor
The failure of the South West to clinch the post of Speaker was not necessarily a result of any gang_up against the South West by other zones – as such. Rather, it was purely a play of democratic dynamics that led to it. The South West has the second largest number of seats in the House of Reps, and majority of them were won by the ACN in the last elections. While the defeated PDP camp wanted the Speaker’s seat for the Zone, the triumphant ACN did not want the PDP to have it.
They did not want to risk having a stump of the Party in the South West ranking high in the PDP Federal Government and posing any threat to their hold on power in the Zone. Thus, they decided to support Tambuwal’s quest for the post.
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