The minority house of representatives caucuses for the 10th
national assembly met on Tuesday ahead of the inauguration in June.
The meeting, which had lawmakers from the six minority
political parties in attendance, is aimed at forming an alliance ahead of the
inauguration of the 10th assembly.
Fred Agbedi, a ranking lawmaker from the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP), said the meeting was to enable the lawmakers-elect and returning
legislators to “network, interact and familiarise” before their inauguration.
He said the minority caucuses have the highest number of
elected lawmakers in the 10th assembly, giving them “greater strength to deepen
opposition politics and democracy”.
Abdulmumin Jibrin, a member of the New Nigeria Peoples Party
(NNPP), said the opposition lawmakers must work “very closely” to protect their
interest.
“We understand that for us to be able to put through our
collective interest, for us to be able to protect our ideals as minority
parties that fundamentally serve as a check to the ruling party, and to be able
to contribute to nation building, we must come together,” he said.
Alluding to the lawmakers in the ruling All Progressives
Congress (APC), Jibrin told the opposition lawmakers that whoever calls them
for a meeting and “tells you anything — is not telling you the honest truth”.
“If we do not put
ourselves together, we will not be able to marshal through our interests,” he
said.
Beni Lar, another ranking member, said the minority caucuses
can achieve a “common goal” if they are united.
“All of us put together are now the majority and a greater
majority. This is something that many parliaments around the world seek to
achieve but cannot achieve. I believe that with our numbers, strength and with
our doggedness, we can achieve our common goal and purpose,” she said.
The meeting subsequently moved into a private session after
remarks by the representatives of each party.
RACE TO PRODUCE THE
SPEAKER
The APC controls 162 of the 325 House of Representatives
seats declared so far by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The opposition political parties have 163 seats between
them.
The PDP has 102, Labour Party (LP) has 34 and NNPP controls
18 seats.
The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has four seats,
while the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Social Democratic Party (SDP)
have two each and the (Young Progressives Party (YPP) has one.
The electoral umpire is scheduled to conduct supplementary
elections in about 32 federal constituencies.
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