The spokesman of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, has said lawmakers in the All Progressives Congress (APC) contesting for the speakership seat need the opposition members to emerge victorious.
Kalu, a member of the APC and speakership aspirant from Abia State, said the speakership aspirants need to negotiate with and lobby members of the opposition to become the 10th speaker of the lower chamber.
In a chat with The Punch on Monday, Kalu said the aspirants cannot ignore the coming together of these pockets of political parties because they are relevant and strategic.
He, said, “We are also going to be looking at them for support concerning determining who becomes the next Speaker. To ignore them is to be un-strategic in your political thinking. You cannot ignore the coming together of these pockets of political parties. They must be negotiated with; they must be brought to the table, understand what their demand is and use that to scout for their votes.
“They are very relevant; they are very strategic. What they have done is a strategic political move which, if I were in the minority, I would join them and do. It is the best negotiating instrument that they have put together because it is a bloc of votes.
“But whether or not that bloc of votes is going to remain a bloc until June is what we don’t know. And if we as the ruling party want to be strategic in our approach to this, then we must take steps to make sure we reach out to that bloc votes and get more on our side. It is all about lobbying that is allowed in politics.”
The contenders for the speakership seat include Ahmed Wase, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, Yusuf Gagdi, Aliyu Betara, Olaide Akinremi, Benjamin Kalu, Tajudeen Abbas, Abdulraheem Olawuyi, Sada Soli, Makki Yalleman, Miriam Onuoha, and Sani Jaji.
