National Assembly leadership campaign taken to Saudi Arabia with lawmakers on hajj being lobbied

NIGERIA'S ongoing campaign for the leadership of the National Assembly has been taken to Saudi Arabia with one of the leading contenders for the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives opting to lobby lawmakers while they are performing hajj.

With Asiwaju Bola Tinubu from the southwest elected as president and Senator Kashim Shettima from the northeast elected as vice president, the race for the senate president  and House of Representatives speaker is open to candidates from all of the other four geo-political zones. Ranking senators and reps from the northwest, south-south, southeast and north central geo-political zones are already positioning themselves for the coveted position, three months before elections are due.

For now, is not yet clear who will get what but the fight for the leadership of both houses has begun in earnest. Hon Muktar Aliyu Betara, the lawmaker representing the Biu/Bayo/Shani and Kwaya Kusar Federal Constituency of Borno State, has taken his campaign to a new level by lobbying state caucuses and other All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders who are observing the lesser hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

During the consultation, Hon Berara assured all members-elect of the House across party lines of his resolve to carry everybody along if elected speaker. Hon Betara, who is currently the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, was said to have met the members-elect at his apartment in Mecca on Monday evening.

His office issued a statement saying: "The House appropriation committee chairman, who is currently in the Holy Land to perform the lesser hajj Umrah ahead of the completion of the Ramadan fast, is using the opportunity to meet and consult members-elect to advance his campaign. Some of the members-elect who attended the meeting pledged unflinching support for Hon Betara, applauded his leadership quality and support provided over the years to his contemporaries, irrespective of religious, ethnic and party affiliation."