Following the appointment of a former Governor of Benue State, Senator George Akume, as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, three lawmakers from from the North Central region in the race for National Assembly leadership have been urged to withdraw from the race.
The three lawmakers from the North Central in the race for National Assembly leadership are Senator Sani Musa, who wants to be Deputy Senate President; the current Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Idris Wase; and Yusuf Gagdi, who are both vying for the Speaker’s position.
President Bola Tinubu had on Friday named Akume from Benue as the SGF.
The appointment came weeks after the North Central region protested against the zoning of the Deputy Senate President and the Speaker’s position to the North-West geopolitical zone.
In a statement at the weekend, a group,the North Central Progressive For Development, hailed Tinubu’s choice of Akume, saying the North Central had been settled.
The statement, signed by NCPFD’s Chairman, Ibrahim Tajo, read in part: “To the glory of God, our zone now has two key figures in the government. Aside from the SGF, another prominent leader of our zone, in the person of Senator Abdullahi Adamu, a former governor of Nasarawa State, has been the National Chairman of our great party, the All Progressives Congress, in the last 15 months.
“While Senator Adamu controls the affairs of our party through the instrumentality of the National Working Committee, our brand-new SGF is the engine room of Tinubu’s administration. Thus, President Tinubu has wiped away our tears in the North Central geopolitical zone.
“Weeks ago, when the positions of the Deputy Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives were zoned by the President and the leadership of our great party to the North-West geopolitical zone, we protested against the sidelining of the North Central and appealed for the review of the zoning arrangement given our contributions to the Tinubu presidency during the presidential election.”
The group therefore stated that: “For our three brothers, who are in the race for the National Assembly leadership, it is time for them to withdraw from the race in line with the decision of the president and our party. Don’t rock the boat, we have been rewarded.”
