Ugochinyere: Nigeria’s House of Reps announces Agbedi as Minority Leader
The House of Representatives has announced Bayelsa lawmaker Fred Agbedi as the new Minority Leader.
Speaker Abbas Tajudeen made the announcement on Thursday shortly after the commencement of plenary.
The House also named Abdusamad Dasuki, a lawmaker from Sokoto State, as Deputy Minority Leader, while Mansur Manu Soro from Bauchi State was appointed Minority Chief Whip.
Agbedi is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dasuki represents the African Democratic Congress (ADC), while Soro belongs to the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).
The appointments bring to an end weeks of consultations, negotiations and intense lobbying among opposition lawmakers over the composition of the minority leadership in the House.
The development followed a protest by some lawmakers shortly before the announcement. About nine members, alongside the representative of Ideato North/Ideato South Federal Constituency of Imo State, Ikenga Ugochinyere, stormed the chamber chanting “No announcement, No sitting” in protest over the delay in naming the Minority Leader.
Among those backing Ugochinyere for the position were Jesse Okey-Joe from Lagos State, Aliyu Mustapha from Kaduna State, Afam Ogene from Anambra State and Aliyu Misau from Bauchi State.
The announcement has now settled the leadership contest and formally constituted the minority leadership team in the House of Representatives.
