10th NASS: First Female, Miriam Onuoha Joins Speakership Tussle

As the tussle for the leadership of the 10th National Assembly continues, the first female lawmaker has joined in the race for the seat of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Naija News learnt that a member-elect of the House of Representatives, Miriam Onuoha, has joined the race for the position of Speaker in the coming 10th National Assembly.

Onuoha was said to have declared her intention for the speakership race at a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday.

The lawmaker, who is representing Onuimo/Isiala Mbano/Okigwe Federal Constituency in Imo State on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), as learnt by this platform, is the first female to openly declare a bid for the office of the Speaker.

Onuoha, who was re-elected for a second term in the House, is said to be the second member from the South-East geopolitical zone, after Benjamin Kalu from Abia State.

According to Onuoha in her address titled ‘The Unity House,’ she noted that the 10th Assembly “promises to be a watershed of some sort for Nigeria’s fledgling democracy,” adding that the dwindling number of women in parliament calls for deliberate action.

She submitted that Nigeria needs “A nationalist and a dynamic team player to stem the tide of our dwindling economy and the much-needed dividends to Nigerians – a service-driven leader who understands citizens’ participation.

“The emergency of the dwindling number of women in parliament calls for deliberate action, an action that will bridge the gender gap; an action that is a call for the leadership of the National Assembly.

“I honourably call for my fellow contestants to support me, a woman with competence, integrity and full of vision. No doubt, our President-elect, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is a he-for-she who has always empowered women in all spheres of life, having picked a woman as his running mate as the Governor of Lagos state and supported his amiable wife to become a senator in the parliament, in line with the goals of the UN’s 35 per cent Affirmative Action for women.

“To this effect, my election as the Speaker House of Representatives will, therefore, afford Nigeria the rare opportunity of killing the two ubiquitous birds of gender balancing and youth inclusiveness in its political/leadership landscape, with one stone.

“Truthfully, I Princess Miriam amply represent the twin-engine essence of Nigeria’s youth and female status quo, whom the circumstances of our political exigencies have made an endangered and vulnerable species.

She mentioned that the issue of regional balancing in the nation’s leadership equation is also “another veritable national challenge that my election to the speakership of the House of Representatives will address and resolve simultaneously in the interest of national unity, peace and inclusion.”

Onuoha was said to be accompanied by two serving male members of the House, Messrs Abdulkadir Abdullahi (APC/Bauchi) and Emeka Chinedu (PDP/Imo) as well as several fresh members-elect and members of the APC Presidential Campaign Council.