By Aliyu Abdulwahid
Some aspirants have resolved to present a consensus candidate to challenge Tajudeen Abbas, the anointed candidate of the Congress of all progressives (APC) for the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The hopefuls, all APC members, who have come together as the Coalition of Progressive Presidential Aspirants (COPSA), include Vice President Idris Wase, Muktar Betara, Sada Soli, Aminu Jaji, Yusuf Gagdi and Miriam Onuoha.
They dropped the hint about the consensus deal on Saturday during a meeting with a minority caucus faction at the Transcorps Hilton in Abuja.
The G7 met with the minority caucus headed by Fred Agbedi, a member of the Bayelsa PDP.
Soli, speaking on behalf of the group, said that a consensus candidate would be announced very soon and that all members of the group would support him.
He said lawmakers will not allow the imposition of 10th House candidates, adding that their candidates for the two seats will be announced next week.
We already have a consensus candidate: Gagdi
Gagdi, in a statement issued after the meeting, said the group had agreed on consensus candidates for president and vice president. However, he did not reveal the names.
“The G7 met with the Major Minority and agreed on consensus candidates for president and vice president, but we won’t mention the names yet. We reach an agreement based on the best choice of people that will be acceptable to the majority of parties involved.
“We have formed this alliance to resist all attempts by outside forces to impose leadership in the Tenth House of Representatives. Rest assured, the next House leadership will come from us,” he said.
Theanalyst.ng reported that APC has adopted Abbas and Ben Kalu as speaker and co-speaker respectively.
The ruling party’s decision has been followed by protests from other candidates who have formed the coalition also called G7 to combat Mr. Abbas and Kalu. However, on Wednesday, the coalition suffered a major setback when Alhassan Doguwa, the current House Majority Leader, withdrew from the race and backed Abbas.
