APC will zone leadership positions of 10th national assembly after Ramadan – Senate spokesman, Ajibola Bashiru

The senate spokesperson, Ajibola Bashiru, has said that the leadership of All Progressives Congress (APC) will take a decision on zoning the leadership of the 10th national assembly after the Ramadan fast.

Bashiru made this known on Wednesday, April 12.

He said that, “I believe that our party will ultimately take a decision on the zoning after Ramadan and certainly before June when the next assembly will be convoked.”

According to him, some of the parameters to be considered for the emergence of the next senate president and the next speaker of the house of representatives include competence, capacity, ranking, religion, zonal contribution to the victory of Bola Tinubu in the February 25 presidential poll, amongst others.

Bashiru noted that, “It will be in the best interest of our party to zone the offices so that we can narrow the number of contestants because when we have eight persons from contesting from our party.”

It is worth noting that the APC won majority of the legislative seats during the just concluded general elections with over 55 senate seats out of 109 and over 160 out of 360 house of representatives seats.

Many APC chieftains and legislative member-elect have expressed interest in the highly coveted positions in the red and green chambers.

They include Orji Kalu, Jibrin Barau, Godswill Akpabio, Dave Umahi, Ahmad Lawan, Ali Ndume, Abdulaziz Yari, Osita Izunaso, amongst others.

Bashiru, while speaking on this development, said that any of the senators-elect are competent to be presiding officers over the national assembly.

He, however, said that the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) and National Executive Committee (NEC) has not taken any decision yet on which of the six geopolitical zone will produce the next senate president.

He said that, “The NWC of our party has not taken a position on the issue of zoning.

“Also, the NEC of our party has not taken any decision but I’m sure that party leaders will be making a lot of permutations to ensure a seamless relationship between the executive and the legislative arms.”

Bashiru, who lost his re-election bid into the senate to represent Osun Central in the February 25 poll, said that the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, will have respect for the diversity and heterogeneity of the Nigerian society when making any decision.

The APC chieftain noted that, “The leadership of the party as well as the members of the 10th national assembly will have to look at so many variables.

“For instance, arguments may be canvassed like the religious argument that the president is a Muslim, the vice-president is a Muslim, will it not be reasonable to have a Christian as the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives?

“And you cannot throw away such argument particularly when you see the divisive nature that politics has taken in recent time in our country.

“You may also look at the North-West (geopolitical zone) which has produced the bulk of the votes by which we won the Presidency.

“Will you discountenance their contribution during the general election?,” he queried.

Bashiru also said that APC may also consider the south-south as an emerging strong base for the party because the party did well from the zone during the just concluded elections.

Source: TheStreetJournal | Read More