The nineth Speakership race may at the end of the day churn out the highest number of contenders in the history of the Nigerian House of Representatives.
As at 4.56pm on Tuesday ten lawmakers had already indicated interest to lead the 360 House membership including the outgoing speaker, Yakubu Dogara going by unconfirmed reports.
In the 7th and 8th assemblies only between four and five candidates openly indicated interest which in most cases water down to three or too major contestants at the end of the day.
The nineth Assembly from all indications may beat both the 7th and 8th assemblies as all the lawmakers in the race even from Buhari’s zone appear to be adamant.
The three new entrants are President Muhammadu Buhari’s close political associate, Hon Mohammed Datti, Aminu Suleiman and Lado Suleja.
TNG however gathered that Garba Datti Muhammad is in the contest for the office of Deputy Speaker.
Datti, a ranking member who has been in the House since 2007, was the Deputy Minority Whip in the House between 2011 and 2015.
The lawmaker, who was a member of the Kaduna State House of Assembly for 2003 to 2007, is believed to have the backing of some of his colleagues to clinch the seat, including some major party stakeholders outside the National Assembly.
It is believed that his loyalty to the party and closeness to the president may work in his favour even as his wields influence among his colleagues.
Because of his loyalty to the APC, Datti backed the position of the party in 2015 during the speakership contest, and also rejected the chairmanship of the Committee on Solid Minerals immediately after Speaker Yakubu Dogara announced him to head the Committee.
Datti previously served in committees such as adhoc panel on constitution amendment, selection committee as well as being a member of several delegations of the House on different assignments.
Also in the race is Hon Aminu Suleiman, who chairs the House Committee on Tertiary Education and TetFund is said to be in the contest for the office of speaker.
A three-term member who represents Fagge Federal Constituency of Kano State, Aminu Suleiman is believed to have gone far with his aspirations as he has since contacted most of his colleagues on the matter.
A former labour leader, Suleiman is one of the forces to reckon with in the House as he is said to be enjoying the support and understanding of a lot of returning members of the House.
Suleiman will be joining other lawmakers such as Babangida Ibrahim from Katsina State in the Northwest for the position of speaker even as Abdulrahman Kawu Sumaila also from Kano State has indicated interest to go for deputy speaker.
It was also gathered that Hon Abubakar Lado Suleja is in the race for the position of Deputy Speaker.
The young Niger lawmaker, who came to the House in 2015 under APC, was the First APC National Youth Leader from 2013 to 2014 and served also as a member of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) and later got elected as fhe first APC National Deputy Treasurer in May 2014 during the First APC National Convention in Abuja.
Hon Lado Suleja was the first youngest member of the APC NWC, which managed the affairs of the party at the national level, following the formation of APC in 2013.
During the both 2015 and the just concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections, Lado joined hands with other stakeholders of the APC and gave the party overwhelming votes in Niger State, where APC also won all the three Senatorial and 10House of Reps seats in the state.