Following the appointment of a former Governor of Benue State, George Akume, as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), three contenders from the North Central for the National Assembly leadership have been urged to withdraw from the race.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had on Friday named Akume from Benue State as the SGF. The appointment came weeks after the North Central stakeholders protested the sidelining of the zone in the sharing of the National Assembly leadership positions.
Senator Sani Musa has indicated interest for deputy senate president; the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Idris Wase; and Rep Yusuf Gagdi are contesting for the speaker’s position.
The North Central Progressives for Development (NCPFD) said the complaints by the stakeholders in the North Central had been addressed by President Tinubu with Akume’s appointment.
The NCPFD’s Chairman, Comrade Ibrahim Tajo, in a statement, said: “While Senator Adamu (APC chairman) controls the affairs of our party through the instrumentality of the National Working Committee (NWC), 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.
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Meanwhile, the Tinubu-Shettima Ambassadors (TSA), in conjunction with the National Forum for APC Ward Chairmen, has asked the APC’s NWC to review its zoning arrangement to accommodate the North Central.
The Director General of TSA, Prince Oyelude Oladele, in a statement yesterday, said the North West couldn’t take two principal offices of the 10th National Assembly while other geopolitical zones were schemed out.
The APC NWC had zoned the offices of deputy senate president and speaker of the incoming 10th National Assembly to the North West.
But Oladele said Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger) was the candidate to beat following his track record of performance, contributions to the party and diverse APC support groups before, during and after the presidential election, and asked all senators of the incoming assembly to deliver him during voting.
He said, “We are fully aware that the North West has been giving two presiding officer positions in both chambers of the National Assembly (NASS), the speaker and deputy senate president by the APC National Assembly zoning arrangement, while the North Central was sidelined.
“As the president and vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria come from the South West and North East, we appeal to the NWC of the APC to share the four presiding officer positions of the National Assembly to the South South, North West, North Central and South East.”
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