The All Progressives Congress National Working Committee will today meet on the zoning of the National Assembly leadership positions in Abuja.
The meeting, which would be presided over by the national Chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, is expected to lay to rest the speculations about the zone that would produce the Senate President and Speaker of the 10th National Assembly.
It was also gathered the NWC would discuss issues raised by the National Vice-Chairman of the North-West, Dr Salihu Lukman, who has dragged Adamu to court for not convening the National Executive Committee meeting.
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Ahead of today’s NWC meeting, aspirants for the National Assembly positions have stepped up lobby to ensure zoning favours their zones.
Speaking to The PUNCH on Tuesday, the National Vice Chairman for South-East APC and member of the NWC, Dr Ijeoma Arodiogbu, explained that the party expected the lawmakers to respect the party’s decision on the zoning of the principal offices.
He said, “The Senate is not solely controlled by the party or the President-elect. Another thing is, zoning or not, the members will decide who will rule them by themselves.
“They can wake up today and jettison zoning and vote according to their plan on the floor of the Senate. There is nobody to control them there.
“While we expect them to respect zoning, we also know that it is not sacrosanct from what I understand. They might decide to toe their own lane. It happened during the time of Saraki and Dogara.
“It doesn’t always boil down to what the party or President-elect wants. The legislators also have the right to determine who governs them; it is a difficult situation for everybody.”
Rationalising his zone’s demand for the top position, Senator Sani Musa said the North Central deserved the position of the Senate President because the geopolitical zone contributed immensely to the victory of the President-elect.
He, however, stated that if the North-Central did not get the Senate President, it should produce the Deputy Senate President.
Similarly, Senator Jibrin Barau argued that the North-West deserved Senate Presidency because it gave Tinubu 2.7 million votes.
Also, an aide to senatore-elect Godswill Akpabio, Ani Ekong, said the South-East should produce the Senate President “for the sake of fairness and equity.”
In a related development, House of Representatives members-elect from across the six geopolitical zones in the country have continued to mount pressure on the ruling party to consider their zones for the speaker of the 10th House.
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The contenders include the Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Wase; embattled Majority Leader, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa; Chairman of the House Committee on Navy, Yusuf Gagdi; Chairman, House Committee on Appropriations, Aliyu Betara; Chairman, House Committee on Science Research Institutes, Olaide Akinremi; Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Benjamin Kalu; and Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Land Transport, Tajudeen Abbas.
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