
A group, the “Concern North Central APC Stakeholders Forum”, said while a geopolitical zone (North West) was given two key positions in the National Assembly, the North-central zone was being sidelined.
Addressing journalists at the APC Secretariat on Monday in Abuja, the National Coordinator of the Forum, Rev Deminic Alancha said they’ll not fold their hands and watch the nation plunge into social cataclysm over the zoning of National Assembly’s principal offices to some zones while others are totally sidelined.
“Zoning the position of Senate President in the 10th Assembly to the South-south geopolitical zone, and the position of Deputy Senate President to the North-west zone; while the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives is also zone to the North-West and the position of the Deputy Speaker to the South-east is unacceptable because it excludes the North Central from the Parliamentary leadership” he noted.
Rev Alancha said the Deputy Senate President and Speaker cannot be zone to the North West when the North Central has not been given anything. North Central cannot be totally excluded from the zoning arrangement.”
The Forum demanded that the four principal positions in the National Assembly should be shared among the zones other than the zones the president and vice president hails from.
“The Parliament in Nigeria operates on a principle that compliments the two topmost positions in the executive arm such that the four principal offices of Senate President, Deputy Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Deputy Speaker are shared among the four other zones outside where the president and vice president comes from”.
He however hailed the cooperations of six aspirants who have come together under one umbrella to resist the attempt to impose an unpopular candidate as the next Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives, while urging Senator Sani Musa, who is contesting for the Senate President, to remain strong in the race to defend the interest of the North Central Region.
He further noted that the G6 is consulting and deliberating on who to support for the Speaker position among themselves, “we call on them to consider North Central for Equity, Justice and Fairness”.
While congratulating president, Bola Tinubu on his successful inauguration, Rev Alancha called on him to address the leadership quagmire at the National Assembly and allow equity, justice and fairness to play out.
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress APC, Sen Abdullahi Adamu and the current Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, Sen George Akume are from the North Central geopolitical zone.