The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives has adopted Bayelsa lawmaker, Rt. Hon. Fredrick Agbedi as their preferred candidate for the vacant principal position of the Minority Leader of the House.
The position became vacant when Hon. Kingsley Ogundu Chinda resigned from the position following his defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
During plenary on Thursday majority of the members of the minority caucus announced Agbedi, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as their new leader and he was subsequently led him to the seat of the Minority leader.
Other lawmakers elected are: Hon Abdulsamad Dasuki (ADC-Sokoto) as Deputy Minority Leader and Hon Mansur Soro (APM-Bauchi) as Minority Whip.
Speaker Tajudeen Abbas announced the names of the minority leadership while reading a letter from the caucus.
“The letter is from the Minority parties of the 10th Assembly and the letter is in respect of nomination of Minority leadership by the Minority parties of the 10th Assembly.
“The letter reads as follows. They said, by virtue of Order 7 of the Standing Orders, 12th edition of the House of Representatives, House of Representatives, Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Minority members of the 10th Assembly hereby unanimously nominate the following members by consensus to fill the vacant positions of the minority in the Parliament.
“Number one, minority leader, Right Honorable Frederick Y. Abedi, Ph.D. Please, can you stand up for the position? Number two, Rt. Honourable colleagues, is the position of minority Whip and the person they have endorsed is no other than Rt. Honourable Manu Soro Mansur. The last, but not the least, is my brother from the North-West in person of Rt. Honourable Abdu-Samad Dezouki for the position of Deputy Minority Leader.
“The request is that it be discussed through the Parliament. Is God willing, So honourable colleagues, today the body of Principal officers is complete.
“And I want to seize this opportunity on behalf of the whole, entire House to congratulate the three people and to wish them all the best in their new positions.
“And let them be assured we will work with them assiduously in ensuring that we achieve our legislative agenda objectives of this very important tent assembly,” the Speaker said.
Earlier, Hon Ikenga Ugochinyere formally withdrew his nomination by the G-60 Minority Caucus.
The Speaker, while announcing Ugochinyere’s withdrawal through his letter, said: “The subject matter of this letter is withdrawal of my nomination as Minority Leader.
“He (Ugochinyere) said: I write on behalf of the Group of 60, out of the 82 minority members of the House of Representatives, and in my personal capacity to formally communicate the withdrawal of the nomination I have submitted to your office for my emergence as Minority Leader designate.
“This decision has become necessary following the recent amendment to the Rules of the House governing eligibility and qualification for leadership positions within the Minority Caucus.
“While the nomination made by the majority of Minority members was valid, it was only undertaken under the Rules and the circumstances existing at that time.
“The subsequent amendment has now answered the framework upon which that nomination was predicated in the interest of preserving the integrity of the institution, demonstrating respect for the authority of the House, and ensuring strict compliance with the amended provisions.
“I hereby withdraw and relinquish any claim to the Parliament, under the position of Minority Leader designate arising from the said nomination. This withdrawal is made out of respect for the supremacy of the House Rules.
“The Group of 60 remains committed to the unity of the Minority Caucus, the stability of the House, and the continued advancement of democratic and legislative ideals.
“We trust that this stage will facilitate a seamless transition to a fresh nomination process consistent with the amended provisions and the wishes of minority members.”
After reading the letter, Speaker Abbas thanked Ugochinyere for his cooperation.