Senators-elect across the North-Central from different political parties have rejected the zoning arrangements for the 10th National Assembly leadership positions announced by the All Progressives Congress on Monday.
The APC Monday endorsed the former minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio and Senator Barau Jibrin as Senate president and deputy respectively.
It also settled for Hon. Tajudeen Abbas (North-West) as Speaker of the House of Representatives and Benjamin Kalu (South-East) as deputy.
The North Central senators-elect rejected the zoning arrangements in an open letter to the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Adamu.
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The letter by the lawmakers-elect was titled, “Resolution of the North Central Caucus of the 10th Senate on NASS Leadership Zoning.”
It was signed by 18 Senators-elect including, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa (Niger East); Senator Ashiru Oyelola Yisa (Kwara South); Senator Sadiq Umar Suleiman (Kwara North); Senator-elect Mustapha Saliu (Kwara Central) and Senator Isah Jibrin (Kogi East).
The letter read partly, “Our caucus reviewed the proposed zoning structure released, and we are not pleased and comfortable with the allocation of the positions of the Deputy Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the 10th National Assembly to a particular geopolitical zone of the country (North-West), we hereby reject it.
Sycophants misleading Tinubu – Kawu
Meanwhile, the Senator-elect from Kano South Senatorial District, Suleiman Ismaila Kawu has warned Tinubu to avoid sycophants from deceiving him to take a wrong decision on the National Assembly leadership issue.
Kawu, a member of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), stated this while addressing journalists in Abuja yesterday.
He described the action of the APC as an insult to opposition members-elect of the 10th National Assembly.
Kawu said the majority of the lawmakers elect were already discussing to work against the zoning arrangements announced by the APC.
“We are in touch with 109 senators and I will assure you that we have a serious number to stop imposition in the Senate or in the House of Representatives.
“We are consulting and politics is a game of numbers, it’s a game of persuasion, interface and we are doing it. We will cross the bridge when we get there.
“What we are saying is that we have many challenges in Nigeria and we have a document, which all of us have agreed to, the constitution, why can’t we use the constitution to resolve the logjam?”
He said, “The President-elect should allow us to sit down and do the needful. Allow us to do those things that will promote unity, happiness and prosperity of Nigeria.
“I am advising the president-elect that as a democrat, we learnt a lot from him. He was in the forefront in fighting Obasanjo for this democracy.
“We were with him when we stopped Jonathan from installing leadership in the House of Representatives. So, Baba, don’t allow sycophants, don’t allow the so-called new cabal in Nigeria to dictate to you; we will not allow it and we will resist it.
“Some of your sons are still in the National Assembly and we know that you are very consistent in terms of democracy.
“The essence of Constitutional democracy is to give power to the people. What we are witnessing today is against the tenets of democracy.
“It is against what we stood for over two decades. It is an insult for the APC to dictate to me where I will go in choosing the presiding officers.
“We are representatives of the people; it is a constitutional representation. We came with our own agenda, the agenda of our people.”
