Speakership: No reason to quit race – Dyegh



One of the speakership hopefuls for the 9th House of Representatives, expected to be inaugurated on Tuesday (tomorrow) , Hon John Dyegh has dismissed any suggestion that he may have abandoned his bid for the position.

Dyegh during a chat over the weekend said “Am fully in the race. I have no reason to step down for anybody”.

Also expressing confidence in the support of his colleagues so far consulted, the lawmaker stated that “we have been around in the media. The election is about 360 members, and it’s about what I called evangelism. It is not about noise making”.

He described as uncalled for, the reported acclaimed number of members’ endorsement by some other of his colleagues in the race, saying a careful calculation proved that they do not add up. “I don’t want to parade numbers. I will go to the floor, that is where election would be won on Tuesday”, he added.

On the demand for more openness in the budget of the parliament, Dyegh said though satisfying a lot of Nigerians on the subject matter remained a Herculean task, no matter how transparent one tries to be.

However, he assured that “We are going to open our books, there nothing secret about the finances of the Nationals assembly. But I can tell you, some people will never be satisfied”.

He said what the team under his leadership would do differently, if elected include to ensure that Nigerians get value for what is in the budget, “through deeper oversight. We will strengthen committees, to be stronger; to be more effective in oversight.

“We have learnt from the past houses, so we should be better. We also understand that independence of the legislature is very important, but committees are given based on merit, pointing out that members with expertise in specific areas should be expected to head relevant committees in those fields. 

“We are not out to fight anybody. What we are saying is that the micro-zoning of the position (speaker) by our party (APC) is wrong”, not offering equity and fairness, “and that does not mean we are coming to fight”, he submitted.

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