The National Labor Committee of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has ratified the zoning formula proposed by president-elect Bola Tinubu, ignoring protests from party members aggrieved by the asymmetric arrangement.
Newslodge reported that Mr. Tinubu settled for Godswill Apabio (South-South) and Barau Jibrin (North-West) for Senate President and Senate Vice President, respectively.
He also endorsed Tajudeen Abbas (Northwest) and Ben Kalu (Southeast) as co-speakers respectively.
The NWC ratified the agreement on Monday after a special meeting at the APC national secretariat in Abuja.
The party’s National Secretary for Publicity, Félix Morka, announced the ratification when briefing journalists after the meeting.
Reading a prepared speech, Morka said the zoning formula was arrived at after a meeting between the party leadership and Tinubu. He noted that the party considered the report and adopted it.
With the adoption, the party has excluded the center-north zone from the leadership of the National Assembly despite protests from the zone.
Please read the APC NWC statement in its entirety:
The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Working Committee met today, Monday, May 8, 2023, to consider the reports of consultations and meetings held with the President-elect, His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, other leaders of the Party and interested parties on zoning arrangements for the leadership positions of the 10th National Assembly.
The NWC respectfully noted the outcome of the meetings held between the President Elect and the NWC leadership. He
NW called for more and better stakeholder consultations needed to secure the support of candidates for National Assembly leadership posts and Party members across the country.
The zoning arrangement reported to the NW/C is as follows:
SENATE:
1. President of the Senate – South-South – Senator Godswill Akpabio (Akwa-Ibom).
2. Vice President of the Senate – Northwest – Senator Barau Jubrin (Kano).
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
3. Speaker, House of Representatives – North West – Hon. Abass Tajudeen (Kaduna)
4. Deputy Spokesperson – Southeast – Hon. Ben Kalu (Abia)
We urge our party leaders, members and all Nigerians to continue to work for peace and progress in our country during and beyond the current period of leadership transition.
Details to follow…