Speakership: “Lawmakers Would Have Been Influenced by Governors” Law Professor Speaks On Open Ballot Voting
- The Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, emerged through an open ballot voting
- The open-ballot voting pattern required every lawmaker to mention or voice out their choice of candidate for the speakership position
- A Professor of law, Wasiu Adedokun, argued that openly mentioning their preferred candidate takes away their independence
FCT, Abuja - Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, representing Zaria constituency in Kaduna state emerged as Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives on Tuesday, June 13 under unique circumstances.
The lawmakers adopted an open ballot system where they mentioned the names of their preferred candidates during the election.
Source: Facebook
The open ballot voting was a result of a change in the House rules for the election of the presiding officers, the Vanguard reported
Hon Yusuf Gagdi of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) from Plateau state, had argued that lawmakers will be scared to disobey their governors should the house proceed with the open ballot voting.
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Gagdi said before the election that such a move has its disadvantage and advantage to both the anointed candidates of the party and members of the ‘G-7’.
The G7 is a group of aspirants, who opposed the consensus candidate the APC. Members of the group are Reps. Ahmed Wase, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, Sada Soli, Sani Jaji, Miriam Onuhoa, Aliyu Betara and Gagdi.
Speaking with journalists, Gagdi, who is Chairman, House Committee on Navy, said:
“Look at the composition of the house, the opposition has 182 put together, while the ruling APC has 178, in the circumstances, the comfortable majority we do not have as the ruling party.
“You think the 182 will not be scared of their governors and leaders who already gave them instruction regarding who becomes the speaker.”
The implication of the open ballot/voice voting
Reacting to the voting pattern that produced Abbas as the speaker in an exclusive chat with Legit.ng, Professor Wasiu Adedokun, of the Faculty of Law, Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti state, wondered how much independence is guaranteed the house if they had to announce their choice of candidate in the open.
He said:
“It is assumed and rightly so, that those who are to vote must have their constituency backing.
“You can’t take away the fact that most of the House of Reps members would have been influenced by governors of their state on whom to cast their vote for.”
Adedokun noted that the implication of open/voice voting is that it will be difficult to overturn the decision of the party.
The professor said:
“The implication is that, if the executive, that is the party decides that a particular group of persons will form the leadership of the house, there’s hardly anything anybody can do about it”
Tajudeen Abbas elected as new speaker of house of representatives
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that after a tight contest, Honourable Abbas Tajudeen has finally emerged as the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives.
The Kaduna lawmaker secured a total of 353 votes to emerge as the winner of the Speaker of the 10th legislative House.
Source: Legit.ng
