10th National Assembly Leadership: Kalu, Yari Meet APC NWC, Protest Over Zoning of National Assembly Leadership

Aggrieved Senators elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Thursday met with the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) in Abuja over the zoning of the National Assembly leadership.

Those at the meeting were the Senator representing Zamfara West, Abdulaziz Yari, Senate Chief Whip, Orji Kalu, Mohammed Musa, and Sadiq Umar.

Kanu and Yari are both interested in the Senate President seat of the 10th National Assembly.

The APC NWC represented by the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, National Secretary, Iyiola Omisore and National Women Leader, Betta Edu.

The party had on Monday nominated the former Minister of Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio, and the lawmaker representing the Zaria Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, as the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively.

The APC also picked the Senator representing Kano North senatorial district, Barau Jibrin, and the current spokesman of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, as Deputy Senate President and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.

However, many members of the party rejected the zoning arrangement and urged the party leaders to make further consultations on the issue.

The Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, on Wednesday, decried the snub of the North-Central in the zoning arrangement of the 10th national assembly leadership.

In a statement he personally signed, wondered why the North-West would get two leadership slots while the North-Central was ignored in the zoning arrangement of the 10th national assembly leadership.

In his address, Kalu insisted that the party should not zone the leadership of the national assembly based on the number of votes each zone contributed to the victory of the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu, in the February 25th presidential election.

Yari also urged the APC national leadership to review the zoning formula of the national assembly leaderships for the interest of fairness, equity and justice.