TheCable

The North-Central Elders Forum has rejected the zoning of the speaker of house of representatives to the south-west.

President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of the ruling party have agreed on the choice of Femi Gbajabiamila from the south-west.

But addressing journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, the group urged the ruling party to zone the position to the north-west, saying the zone is “too strategic to be relegated” in the power sharing formular in the country.

Muhammadu Gwaska, the forum’s chairman, said the elders are specifically endorsing Idris Wase, deputy hosue leader, as the next speaker.

The APC is expected to produce the next crop of national assembly leaders after emerging the majority party in both legislative chambers.

The forum said apart from delivering for the party during elections, the north-central has over the years continued to play a strategic role in representative government and bridge building.

“In the just concluded 2019 presidential election the north-central contributed 2,465,599 votes of the 15,191,847 total votes for Mr. President’s victory – representing 16.22% compared to the 2,036,450 contribution from the south-west which represents only 13.40% while the zone occupies the enviable position of the vice-president since 2015,” Gwaska said.

“If the insinuations that the south-west is being considered by the leadership of the party for speaker of the 9th house of representatives be true, we in the north-central geo-political zone strongly consider this as an unfair treatment to the zone.

“The north-central zone has demonstrated its loyalty and strength to the party when it increased its votes to the party from 2,411,013 votes in 2015 to 2,465,599 votes in the 2019 presidential election.

“The national leadership of the party must ensure that the party does not inflict a sufficient damage on itself, which consequences can better be imagined in the course of selection and election of principal officers of the 9th house of representatives.”