The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has warned external forces against any attempt at imposing the leadership of the National Assembly on legislators.
He disclosed that such moves failed in the past when attempted, noting that it was better for leaders to emerge from among the legislators of the 9th National Assembly without external interference.
The speaker stated this while addressing reporters at the induction of Senators-elect and House of Representatives members-elect in Abuja on Monday.
On the power of political parties to influence election of National Assembly leadership, Dogara said, “Well, I’m not here to dictate to parties, the parties have their manifestoes, the way to do their businesses, but one thing I have said and if you followed the business during this induction, it is always better to allow the leadership to emerge from the people.
“Where leadership has been forced upon the people, the history in the National Assembly, and in fact, the history of Nigeria, it has never endured.
“The least we could afford in the National Assembly is crisis on account of the leadership selection process.
“So who ever a party is sponsoring and supporting, they should make sure they have the backing of the legislature so that they (legislators) accept it because they own the process and they own the leadership.
“That way, it will be good but in a situation it is forced, literally driven down the throat, in most cases it doesn’t augur well. Even in the Senate it doesn’t augur well. In the House of Representatives too, it doesn’t augur well too.
“You are journalists, you should be able to dig into the archive and you will be able to find specific cases.”
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