Race for House Speaker hots up as Reps begin lobby

The politics of who become what in the 9th National Assembly may be another threat to the stability of the ruling APC like was the case in 2015 as Reps are already jostling for the zoning of the offices.

While there are indications that the current House Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila (Lagos APC), and his South West region are battle ready for the speakership position, another group are also calling for it to be zoned to the North Central.

In a statement signed by one of the Reps calling for the position of the speaker to be zoned to the North central, Rep John Dyegh, he argued that such development will bring about “advance national cohesion, balance of power and federal character.”

“We, the members of the North-Central Caucus of the All Progressives Congress in the House of Representatives, called this briefing to express our position with respect to the leadership position of the ninth Assembly.

“You are not unaware of the interest the issue of the leadership of the next assembly has generated in the public space. We want to use this medium to acknowledge the supremacy of our party, the APC, in addressing the issue of zoning of positions in an equitable, just and fair manner that will foster unity and cordial relations among members of our party and our colleagues from the other political divides.

“We are confident of the ability and capacity of the national leadership of the APC to do what is right to all in order to advance national cohesion, balance of power and federal character.

“It is in this regard that we humbly wish to appeal to our great party, the APC, to strongly consider the North- Central geopolitical zone for the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the 9th Assembly,” Dyegh said.

On why they position should be zoned to North Central he said that “it would satisfy and advance the cause of equity because the North-West and the South-West already have the president and vice-president positions, respectively.

“The need to ensure balance and spread between and among the six geopolitical zones has made it imperative to give prime consideration to the North-Central zone to produce the position of the speaker.

“Being the zone with delicate and peculiar location and challenges within the federation, it is of utmost importance to carry us along in the hierarchy of power distribution in the country as this will in no small measure, help in stabilising the polity,” he said.