[size=14pt] As S/West loses out of power equation, [/size]
Written by Taiwo Adisa, Group Politics Editor
Tuesday, June 7, 2011


THE election of Honourable Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who represents Kebbe and Tambuwal Federal Constituency of Sokoto State as the Speaker of the House of Representatives on Monday signals the exclusion of the South-West geopolitical zone from the top four positions in the land since the return of democracy in 1999.






Though the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which performed poorly in the South-West in the April general election, had attempted to boost the confidence of the people of the zone by allotting the nation's number four seat to its members from the area, agitation by members of the House, who insisted on preserving the status quo in the chamber, prevailed on Monday.


The agitation saw to the election the deputy chief whip of the immediate past House as the speaker.

Tambuwal emerged the House Speaker, after polling 252 votes to defeat Honourable Mulikat Adeola-Akande from Oyo State in the South-West, who polled 90 votes.


Even when it appeared unlikely that the PDP's zoning arrangement would favour the emergence of a speaker from the North-West, Tambuwal had continued his campaigns tour of states and heightened the tempo of his contacts with political leaders and other stakeholders.


He went on tour of all geopolitical zones, meeting with the newly-elected members and their godfathers and spreading the gospel of independence of the legislature.


The immediate past House, headed by Honourable Dimeji Bankole, had helped Tambuwal set the stage for his election and emboldened his campaigns when it amended its rules to ensure the usage of open secret balloting on the floor.


Notwithstanding the declaration on the floor by the Clerk to the National Assembly, Alhaji Salisu Maikasuwa, that members' votes could not remain as secret as they would want it for record purposes in the chamber, they still went ahead to defy the PDP.


With Tambuwal's emergence, the power configuration at the federal level is now skewed heavily against the South-West and the North-East.


While the PDP had calculated that each of the six geopolitical zones in the country would get feel of the topmost echelons of government, through the sharing equation, the decision of members to vote Tambuwal and upset the voting arrangement had ensured that the North-West and the South-East are the main beneficiaries of federal appointments.


The South-South had claimed the presidency through Dr Goodluck Jonathan, while Vice-President Namadi Sambo had emerged the number two man.


The position of Senate president was allotted to the North-Central; speaker was meant to come from the South-West, while it was intended that the North-East would produce the deputy speaker and the national chairman of the PDP.


The South-East had earlier been assigned the position of Deputy Senate President and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).


Last week, President Jonathan announced Senator Anyim Pius Anyim as the new SGF.


But with Monday's election in the chamber of the House, North-West now has two top positions; the vice-president and the speaker.


The South-East already has three top positions at the topmost hierarchy of the Nigerian government, including the deputy Senate president, the SGF and the deputy speaker.


Although questions could be raised whether the configuration has not offended Section 14 (3) of the 1999 Constitution, which provides for the Principles of Federal Character and the need to avoid the perpetuation of a zone of a people in government, the reality of the power set up in the House is that the South-West will not be represented.


Both the South-West and North-East are left in the cold, with none of the two zones represented in the top seven positions.

In fact, leaders of that party were of the view that the South-West should be denied the speakership slot, so as to stop the PDP from having a rallying point in the zone.


It means that the zone has gone back to the situation it was in the National Assembly in 1999, when it produced only one PDP member.


As it is, since the South-West failed to clinch the number four post, it may have lost a cotton edge representative who could take its cases directly to the topmost hierarchy of power.


Now that the precedence has been set, the zone can only work on its liabilities in the power equation in the future election.


Else, it would continue to go farther from the centre of power gravity in the nation, while other zones amass a heap of top governmental positions.

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