Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress in North-Central have accused the ruling party of bias following the exclusion of its region in the zoning arrangement for the leadership positions of the 10th National Assembly.
The party members, who took their protest to the national headquarters of the APC in Abuja on Monday, stated they found it unaccepted that the North-West alone was allotted two slots in the legislative leadership formula while their zone ended with nothing.
The APC had micro-zoned the position of Senate president to the immediate past Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio and Deputy Senate President to the Chairman of Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Jibrin Barau.
In the House of Representatives, the seat of Speaker was zoned to popular Kaduna legislatot, Tajudeen Abass, while the reps-elect from South East, Kalu, clinched the Deputy Speaker slot.
But the arrangement had sparked outrage from other aspirants in the race and their cronies, with many blaming the party leadership for not consulting them before making the announcement.
Consequently, six of the aggrieved aspirants, now christened G-6, had threatened to revolt by disobeying the party position if the zoning formula is not reviewed.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Monday, convener of APC Stakeholders Forum, Revd. Dominic Alancha, called on the ruling party to rethink its biased position on the zoning template.
A livid Alancha bemoaned that having Senator Abdullahi Adamu as the APC National Chairman and the appointment of George Akume as Secretary to the Government of the Federation were not enough compensation to have a whole region excluded from holding principal legislative positions in the two chambers.
He said, “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 was also zoned to the North-west and the position of Deputy Speaker to the Southeast is unacceptable because it excludes the North Central from parliamentary leadership.
“We note the observation that the national chairman of our great party is from the North Central zone and with the appointment of Senator George Akume as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, that the North Central has been compensated. But we say no to these assertions as they do not respect the principle of separation of power in a democracy.
“We demand that the four principal positions in the National Assembly are shared among the zones other than the zones the president and vice president hail from. The Deputy Senate President and Speaker cannot be zoned to the North West when the North Central has not been given anything. The North Central cannot be totally excluded from the zoning arrangement.”
Continuing, the North-Central grassroots politician, explained that parliament is a key component in any democratic structure that determines the speed with which an administration can succeed in its quest to deliver dividends of democracy to the people.
Alancha stated that as responsible citizens who wish President Bola Tinubu to succeed, the people of the North-Central cannot fold their arms and do nothing when a situation that could lead to a social cataclysm is being introduced.
This was even as he praised the G-6 aspirants for standing their ground and insists on allowing the legislators to decide their leadership.
“On this note, we salute the cooperation and unity of the six aspirants who have come together under one umbrella to resist the attempt at the imposition of an unpopular candidate as the next speaker of the House of Representatives. We urge Senator Sani Musa to remain strong in the race to defend the interest of the North Central Region.
“As the G-6 is consulting and deliberating on who to rally round and support for the speaker position among themselves, we call on them to consider North Central for Equity, Justice and Fairness.
“I am pained because much as we want the new administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to hit the ground running, we observe with dismay how it is being slowed down owing to the delay and time being lost over the issue of zoning leadership positions in the 10th National Assembly.
“Today is June 5 and by next week, June 13 to be precise, the 10th National Assembly would be inaugurated by President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, which means that we have barely one week to project on the right leadership for both the Senate and House of Representatives,” he stated.
