By Mumini AbdulKareem
A Kwara State High Court has fixed Monday, 3rd, 2019 to hear the suit on the speakership tussle rocking the Kwara State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), National Pilot can report.
Three members of the party, Maruf Yusuf Olaniyi, Abass Adeoti and Usman Hussein instituted the case against the House Clerk, Hajia Jummai Halimmat Kperogi seeking to compel her to use the present house rule to inaugurate the speakership of the 9th Assembly come June 6 next month.
They want the clerk to follow the rule of the house mandating the clerk to swear in the most experienced member as the speaker, a move widely believed will pave the way for the emergence of Hon Saheed Popoola, the only ranking lawmaker among the 24 member-elect under the APC during the last general election.
According to the order 3(2) of the House rules which talks about the nomination of a member as speaker, “The election of speaker shall be conducted in the following manner; (A) A member elect addressing the clerk shall propose another member elect with at least state assembly legislative experience from the House to be speaker and shall move that such member “Do take the chair of the House as Speaker”.
Counsel to the claimants, Barrister Seun Ijaodola confirmed the date to this reporter in a telephone chat last night adding the case has been assigned to Justice Adebayo Yusuf.
He had previously said the House clerk had been served on the issue through her office.
Kperogi had not still returned a text message sent to her on the issue by this paper on Sunday after several calls to her phone did not connect.
Popoola, representing Balogun/Ojomu of Offa constituency is the most experienced and might emerge speaker if the party decided to adopt him in the present scenario.
The governor-elect is from Kwara Central, the deputy governor-elect is from Kwara south where Saheed Popoola hails from while Kwara north covets the speakership position. But the plaintiffs say experience and party loyalty should count.
Although the party is yet to come out openly on its stand on the Speakership position, the plaintiffs suspect that the party may unnecessarily meddle into the issue to favour a particular district to produce the next Speaker; hence they want the party to stay off the internal affairs of the legislature.
Following viral online reports last penultimate week that he has stepped down from the race to settle for deputy speakership, Popoola denied the report adding that “I am still in the race”
Popoola who spoke with this reporter from Ghana over the issue said he has been quiet over the issue of the speakership because of the directive of the party to members to be silent on the issue of the speakership of the ninth Kwara Assembly.
According to him “I have not stepped down; I am only silent because of the directive of the party to be silent about the issue of speakership. I can’t step down and I am not stepping down for anybody”, he noted.
Quoting a close source to Popoola, the online report said Popoola allegedly stepped down out of respect for cohesion of the party and party leadership.
“While he is eminently qualified to be the 9th Speaker of the Assembly, he has listened to voice of elders and therefore will support the consensus candidate of the party from Kwara North…”
