Ahead of the composition of the 10th Cross River State Legislature and the sharing of the principal offices, a lot has been said about which LGA should produce the next Speaker of the House.
Naturally, Cross River Central is going to produce the next Speaker of the Assembly.
The two local government areas in contention are Boki and Ikom. While Ikom LGA is rounding up its 8 years in the House of Representatives, Boki is set to take over the position.
Some persons have also argued that Ikom would be left ”empty” if Boki takes the Speakership. Is Ikom truly empty? Is Boki LGA loaded like Odukpani and Ogoja in terms of elected offices?
A critical look at the 25 members-elect of the House of Assembly shows that all the members from the North are new members and only one member from the South, Rt. Hon. Francis Asuquo, who hails from Odukpani is a returning member. Invariably, 21 members out of the 25 are said to be freshers coming into the house.
Going by the house rules, returning members are always given priority in holding principal offices.
By all standard, Hon. Francis Asuquo from Odukpani, who is the only returning member from South and North should be made either the Deputy Speaker of the House Leader. It is his right. Should we say because he is from Odukpani that currently have a Governor-elect, Senator-elect and House of Representatives member-elect, he should be denied of his legislative position, offcourse no. Unless there’s a gentleman agreement to persuade him for another member.
Rt. Hon. Hilary Bisong is a third term member of the house, in fact he is the oldest ranking member of the 10th assembly. He is a lawmaker par excellence.
Hon. Bisong, who is the present Deputy Majority Leader of the House, is the lawmaker with the highest number of sponsored bills in the 9th house of assembly.
He holds a B.Sc in Geology, M.Sc: Applied Geophysics, M.Sc: Elections & Party Politics, PhD: Elections & Party Politics (In view).
He’s the most qualified lawmaker to be the next speaker of the 10th assembly, this is divine.
