From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
A Civil Society Organization,Movement for Effective Legislature and Sustainable Democracy in Nigeria (MELSDN), has charged the All Progressives Congress (APC) to support the chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, Muktar Betara, to emerge as speaker of the House in the 10th assembly.
The group, in a statement, by its national coordinator, Williams Ndorokpa Martins,
on Sunday, said Betara has the capacity and acceptance across political parties to function effectively as speaker of the 10th House.
It noted that Betara, who represents Biu/Bayo/Shani and Kwaya Kusar Federal Constituency of Borno State, as Appropriations Committee chairman , contributed immensely to stabilize the budget cycle in the country in the last four years.
According to the group, ” the Legislature is the key organ of government in a democracy, be it presidential or parliamentary. And if the incoming 10th National Assembly will succeed, three factors must be brought into consideration and given greater premiums in our leadership recruitment process, particularly as it affects the 10th House of Representatives. They are: competency, integrity and institutional memory (experience).
“And as the race for the Speakership of the 10th House of Representatives reaches its defining moments, questions have continued to rage regarding the suitability of those who have thrown their hats into the ring.
“And while all those who have expressed interest in the coveted position have legal rights to such claims, one man has continued to stand out in terms of the impacts his current role in the outgoing Assembly have had in the socioeconomic resilience of Nigeria. He is no other than Rt. Hon. Muktar Aliyu Betara.
“Betara, according to Nigerians within and outside the legislature, is the man with the highest level of goodwill and loyalty of his colleagues by reasons of his responsiveness to their personal and political needs whenever they have challenges within the House and at constituency level.
“His army of friends across party lines are unrivaled in the legislature, and can serve as a veritable tool in achieving bipartisan consensus, thereby helping the incoming administration to seamlessly push its policies and programmes through the legislature.”