The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, said unlike what happened in the 8th National Assembly, the party members in the 9th Assembly must chair all committees in the federal legislature. Oshiomhole, who stated this at the meeting with members-elect of the House of Representatives at the Shehu Musa Yar’adua Centre, added that the party would only concede chairmanship of public accounts to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.
Oshiomhole said the APC would not share offices of principal officers of the House and chairmanship of juicy committees with the opposition PDP, except for position reserved for minority members. Oshiomhole, at the meeting, stated that the ruling party would not allow a repeat of the mistakes it made when the National Assembly was inaugurated in June 2015. Oshiomhole told the attendees that with the overwhelming majority in the House, the APC would use its numerical strength to its advantage.
He said, “This time round, we must ensure that we have a leadership of the National Assembly that shares the vision of the executive. Although we will adhere to the principle of separation of powers but there is only one government and unless the various arms pursue the same agenda, it is difficult for the executive to realise its vision because legislative backing is often require for the executive actions.
“So, I will expect that you bear it in mind that we are one family joined together as shown in our broom, with a share commitment to bail Nigeria out of the condition in which we find it in 2015. And that you have the numbers and we will use the numbers to ensure that we have a leadership that commands the trust and the respect of all the members of the House of Representatives.
“We have the number to produce the Speaker and we will produce the Speaker, who must be a member of the APC. We have the numbers to produce the deputy Speaker and we will use the numbers to produce the deputy Speaker, who must be a member of the APC. We have the number and we must use the numbers to elect a House Leader who must be a member of the APC
“We have the numbers and we will use the numbers to produce a Chief Whip and a Deputy Whip who must be members of the APC. I think the only position that we are not interested in is the Minority Leader. Let it remain minor in the hands of the minors in the opposition.
