Group Rejects Apc’s Zoning Of Deputy Speaker To S’East

A South East based youth group, Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL) has rejected the micro-zoning of the position of Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives to the South East.

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had recently announced that the position has been micro-zoned to the zone, and that Hon. Benjamin Kalu, an Abia member-elect has been penciled down for the position.

But reacting to the development in a press statement signed by its President General, Hon. Goodluck Ibem, and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Okey Nwaoru, COSEYL said it was insulting to zone such a position to the South East.

The group also added that Kalu who was penciled down for the office still has his victory being contested, and cannot represent the Igbo nation. The statement reads: “While the political goal and aspiration of Ndigbo is beyond the post of the senate president, we cannot identify with a character like Benjamin Kalu, not to talk of endorsing him to represent the political interest of the entire South East as a federal parliamentarian holding the post of the Deputy Speaker.

“For emphasis, the Igbo are a major ethnic group in Nigeria, also one of the tripodal arrangement upon which the nation itself stands. We cannot be reduced to the background by the APC-led Federal government, no matter the scheming or agenda.”