Vacant Seat Of The Deputy Majority Leader: An Open Letter To The Speaker, House Of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara

Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara,
Honourable Speaker,
Federal House of Representatives,
Federal Republic of Nigeria,
National Assembly Complex,
Abuja.

Honourable Speaker,

We would like to first of all sympathise with you and the entire Honourable Members of the House over the death of Rt. Hon. Umar Buba Jibril, our brother and your colleague, who was the Deputy Majority Leader of the House till his demise. May his soul rest in peace!

We are a diverse community of committed and inspiring young men and women from Kogi State, and we hereby write this open letter to your good office to express our anxious concern over the recent publication made by the Leadership Newspaper on 15th April 2018; titled ‘Intense Lobby As Reps Jostle For Deputy Leader’s Seat’. In that publication, it was alleged that many Representatives from various states of the North-Central are jostling for the position left vacant by Hon. Buba’s death.

Our concern is anchored on the principal argument that this position was zoned to the North-Central Geopolitical Zone comprising Kogi, Plateau, Niger, Kwara, Nasarawa, Benue and the FCT. In the history of Nigeria’s democratic dispensation, Kogi has never had a chance to serve in the capacity of Principal Officer of either the House of Representatives or the Senate until this 8th National Assembly, whereas:

• Plateau produced Deputy Senate President that served a successful term of 1999 – 2003;
• Benue produced Senate President that served two respective Assemblies successfully from 2007 – 2011 and 2011 – 2015;
• The current President of the Senate is from Kwara;
• The current Minority Whip of the Senate is from the FCT;
• Niger State produced Majority Whip in the previous Assembly and served a successful term;
• Nasarawa State has equally had their fair share in the 5th Assembly.

Mr Speaker Sir, it is only in this 8th Assembly that Kogi enjoys some privileges with the emergence of Rt. Hon. Buba Jibril as the Deputy Majority Leader until his unfortunate demise. Base on the foregoing Sir, we humbly appeal that another qualified Representative from the state should be sworn in immediately to complete Hon. Buba’s tenure.

Whilst believing that you will give due priority attention to this matter, and by so doing, grant our humble request, all with a view to addressing it squarely without any further interminable delays, in order for us not to feel cheated and short-changed, we want you to kindly accept the assurances of our highest regards.

We remain,
Yours sincerely,
For: Kogi Youth Ambassadors (KYA)
Comrade Ayuba Dauda

cc:
Rt. Hon. Yusuf Lasun, Deputy Speaker, House of Reps
Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Majority Leader, House of Reps
Rt. Hon. Ogor Leonard Okuweh, Minority Leader
Rt. Hon. Chukwuka Wilfred Onyema, Deputy Minority Leader
Rt. Hon. Ado Garba Alhassan, Chief Whip
Rt. Hon. O.pally Isumafe Iriase, Deputy Chief Whip
Rt. Hon. Umar Barde Yakubu, Minority Whip
Rt. Hon. Binta Bello, Deputy Minority Whip
Hon. Aliyu Ahman-Pategi, Leader of APC North Central Caucus, House of Reps
Alhaji Mohammed Sani Omolori, Clerk of the National Assembly