Expdonaloaded News; Reps speaker: Plot to change House rules thickens

A surprising twist has been introduced into the race for the speakership of the House of Representatives as some members have commenced moves to alter the House standing rule from secret to open ballot system.

The fresh plot, which started early in the week, has, however, been fiercely opposed by contestants, who believe the new rule, if allowed to sail through, will jeopardise their chances.
Those eyeing the number four position are members of All Progressives Congress (APC), including Femi Gbajabiamila (Lagos), Yakubu Dogara (Bauchi), Pally Iriase (Edo), Jibrin Abdulmuni (Kano) and Mohammed Monguno (Borno).
The leadership of APC is expected to zone the office, but there are speculations that such plan may have been shoved aside by the party following the inability of leaders of the party to agree on the zoning arrangements proposed.
In the House, it was gathered that some lawmakers loyal to one of the contenders was mobilising his colleagues to amend the standing rule to jettison secret ballot on voting procedure.
A motion to this effect was to be moved Wednesday, last week but the sponsors, sensing that they might not get enough support, stood it down.
Again, the sponsors attempted to table the motion yesterday when they demanded that the matter be taken under a supplementary order paper, but the House leadership resisted the move after it emerged that the sponsors did not sign the motion. The motion will now be presented next week Wednesday.
Order 2, Rule 4 (f) (ii) of the House Standing Orders 2014, states that: “Voting by secret ballot shall be conducted by the Ckerk-at-Table using the list of the members-elect of the House, who shall each be given a ballot paper to cast his vote, with the proposer and seconder as tellers.”post by expdonaloaded.blogspot.com..Speaking on the plot, a ranking member of the House, who did not want his name in print, said: “They had planned to propose the amendment under matters of urgent public importance on Wednesday, but changed their minds after realising that it will be defeated.”
The lawmaker said the group was planning to “come under a substantive motion next Wednesday to propose amendment to the voting pattern from secret to open ballot.”
The amendment, according to the source, was to achieve two things: “To ensure that members are cajoled and intimidated into voting for Femi Gbajabiamila as the whole world will know who each member voted for.
“We are aware that the amendment is being proposed so that their godfathers will see them voting for their annointed candidates but under the secret ballot, nobody will know who each member voted for.
“Secondly, we are also aware that they want to induce members with money to vote for their candidate but they want to make sure that those who collect their money vote for their candidate.
“It is both hypocritical and disingenuous for the same people who pushed for the adoption of the secret ballot four years ago are now working against it for selfish reasons.”