A member of the House of Representatives from Plateau State, Yusuf Gagdi, said on Wednesday that he has consulted 24 governors across Nigeria in his bid to become Speaker of the House in the upcoming 10th National Assembly. The current 9th National Assembly was inaugurated in June 2019, and the 10th is expected to be inaugurated in the same month in 2023. Gagdi, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress, briefed journalists in Abuja on his speakership campaign, noting that he had visited Abia and Enugu states to seek the votes of members‑elect on the platform of the opposition Labour Party. “I want to be a speaker for the Nigerian people,” he said.
The lawmaker is one of about ten aspirants for the Office of the Speaker in the next Assembly, some of whom have officially declared their ambitions. Reported on Sunday, the aspirants include Deputy Speaker Ahmed Wase; embattled Majority Leader Alhassan Ado‑Doguwa; Chairman of the House Committee on Navy Yusuf Gagdi; Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations Aliyu Betara; Chairman of the House Committee on Science Research Institutes Olaide Akinremi; Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs Benjamin Kalu; Chairman of the House Committee on Land Transport Tajudeen Abbas; and Chairman of the House Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness Abdulraheem Olawuyi.
Gagdi explained that he chose to consult stakeholders quietly, both within and outside the APC, including “citizens of this country who have a stake in decision‑making on who becomes the speaker.” He said, “I have done my best in my own strategy to go silent and not to engage too much media and photos in my visitations across the country. But yesterday I commenced my public engagement, during which I visited Lagos to meet with the governor‑elect of Abia State and members of the Labour Party. Abia has about seven members‑elect in the Labour Party. From there I flew to Enugu where I interacted with the state chairman of the Labour Party and the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Enugu State.”
He addressed why he visited a governorship candidate who had not been declared winner, noting that Enugu has eight members‑elect, seven of whom belong to the Labour Party. “Engaging the governor‑ship candidate who has a majority in the House of Representatives is more important to me than visiting the person who was declared winner but has only one member‑elect in the National Assembly, particularly in the House. So I selected my visit accordingly.” Gagdi added that this was his first public engagement, but he had already visited over 24 governors silently. “Since I have commenced the public engagement, I will keep the speed up,” he said.
The 42‑year‑old lawmaker, who has been re‑elected for a second term, said he plans to finish the consultations before formally launching his campaign. He urged the APC to allow the North‑Central geopolitical zone to produce the next speaker, noting that the zone has sustained the party’s presence in the country. “In the area of justice, I am from the North‑Central and the North‑Central deserves to produce the speaker. If you are zoning it to northern Nigeria, the North‑Central is the only region that has not produced a speaker in recent years. The North‑West has produced almost four, the North‑East two. The records are there.” He added that, out of the six governors in the North‑Central, all may be APC except perhaps Plateau State, and that the zone has contributed significantly to the party. “If the party zones to the North‑Central, be assured you will see a more rugged commitment from my side when I become Speaker of the 10th Assembly,” he said.
Regarding his legislative achievements, Gagdi said, “A lot of things motivated me. This is my second term in the House of Representatives. In my first term, within three years I was able to fund 12 bills, of which the President assented to six – six very important bills. You should check the history of the National Assembly from 1999 to date to see if any member has exceeded that.” He acknowledged the pride in his record, noting that while some members have funded over 20 bills, few have seen six private member bills signed by the President. “I have broken a record in the National Assembly as a first‑timer. If we had a Guinness Book of Records for the Assembly, I would be in it, because the primary responsibility of a parliament is to make laws. I have done that.”
The speakership aspirant also said he had moved 18 “sensitive motions” on the House floor as a first‑timer within two years. “I have seen many wrongs in the National Assembly that need to be corrected, especially in terms of budget and duplication of projects. That is what wastes taxpayers’ money.”
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