Ahead of the inauguration of the 10th national assembly, the Group of 7 famously called G7 and the Greater Minority Group of the minority caucus in the House of Representatives have agreed to produce consensus candidates for speaker and deputy in the incoming 10th National Assembly. The two groups made the resolution on Saturday after a meeting in Abuja.
The G7 reiterated their commitment to work with the Minority Caucus in a bid to present a common front for the 10th National Assembly Speaker. The Greater Minority is made up of 182 members-elect across minority parties including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); Labour Party (LP); New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP); Africa Democratic Congress (ADC); Young People’s Party (YPP); All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), and the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Meanwhile, The G7 is made up of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Wase; the Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Aliyu Betara; Chairman, the House Committee on Navy, Yusuf Gagdi. Others include Sada Soli (APC-Katsina), Sani Jaji (APC-Zamfara), Miriam Onuhoa (APC-Imo) and Rep Ado Doguwa. Speaking after the meeting, one of the aspirants, Hon. Gagdi said the members-elect settled for candidates that will be acceptable to the majority of them. “The G7 met with the Greater Minority and agreed on consensus candidates for Speaker and Deputy Speaker but we will not mention the names yet. We reached an agreement based on the best choice of people that will be acceptable to the majority of all parties involved.
“We have formed this alliance to resist all attempts by external forces to impose leadership on the 10th House of Representatives. Be rest assured that the next leader of the House will emerge from us,” he said. A statement from his campaign office however stated the candidates will be unveiled publicly at a later date.