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The All Progressives Congress (APC), the party in power, has been shaken by the micro-zoning of the leadership of the 10th National Assembly, and five senators have threatened to rebel in opposition to the party’s and the president-elect Bola Tinubu’s decision.

At a meeting with the APC leadership and members of its national working committee in Abuja on Thursday, May 11, The Punch reported that senior senators and candidates for the position of the next senate president made the threat.

The most recent information on the APC, Bola Tinubu, Godswill Akpabio, Orji Uzor Kalu, the 2023 election, and Abdulaziz Yari

The senators warned, among other things, that open rebellion would result if the party did not reverse its decision and zone the position to geopolitical regions.

This is because they would openly defy the APC decision.

The APC zoned the 10th senate presidency to the south-south on Tuesday, and in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Felix Morka, stated that Godswill Akpabio, the recently-retired minister of Niger Delta Affairs, was its preferred candidate.

Morka clarified that the party’s choice was made after consultation with Bola Tinubu, the president-elect, and other interested parties.

The list of the five senators who issued the threat is as follows:

The next senate president should be zoned to the northwest, according to Abdulaziz Yari Yari, a former governor of the state of Zamfara.

Despite being a new senator, Yari had argued that the region had given the APC the most votes in the 2023 presidential election.

Mr. Osita Izunaso

He is the newly elected senator from Imo state, one of the powerful states in the southeast.

Some political commentators have suggested that the region ought to produce the next senator, while others have countered that they are not deserving because they did not support the APC in the recent presidential election.

Sani Musa

Musa is a senator serving his second term from Niger State, one of the important states in the north-central, who is also requesting that their region be given the next senate presidency.

The senator has gained notoriety for having sponsored the contentious social media bill that was thought to censor media content.

A. Umar Sadiq

Currently serving as the Kwara north senatorial district’s representative in the departing 9th National Assembly is another senator from Kwara state’s north central region.

He was also re-elected, and he will take office as a senator for the 10th Senate.

Inji Uzor Kalu

The senator from Abia North is one of the well-known and seasoned members of the Red Chamber who had previously expressed interest in the position.

Currently serving as the Senate Chief Whip is Kalu, a powerful senator from the Southeast. Ifeoma, his wife, recently passed away there.
A list of the regions, states, and Senate Presidents that Nigeria has had since 1999.

According to reports, the race for the next senate president has already begun, especially in light of the recent revelation of the micro-zoning of the position by the incumbent All Progressives Congress (APC). Over time, many political experts have suggested that the southeast would be the best choice for bringing the country together, but the APC has zoned the position to the South-South and declared Godswill Akpabio as its preferred candidate.

Senate chief whip Uzor Orji Kalu, Abdulaziz Yari, senator-elect, and Mohammed Musa, senator representing Niger East, have lodged a complaint against the nominations made by the All Progressives Congress (APC) for leadership positions in the senate. These three individuals are the senators representing Niger East.

Godswill Akpabio, a former minister of Niger Delta affairs, and Barau Jibrin, a senator representing Kano north, were the candidates for the presidency and vice presidency of the Senate, respectively, that the party had nominated.

During a meeting on Thursday in Abuja with Abdullahi Adamu, the national chairman of the APC, Yari stated that they are not satisfied with the arrangement.
According to Yari, a former governor of Zamfara, the senators are interested in having a level playing field.

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After handing over a letter of protest, he addressed the assembly, saying, “We are here to present our letter of grievances to you and also tell this honorable house that as leaders, we are not satisfied with the arrangement.” He went on to say that the leaders were unhappy with the arrangement.

“What we are expecting from you people is to give us fair play, or at the very least, if nothing else, to mention that a particular position is zoned and that anybody in that zone can’t participate.”

Regarding his own role, Adamu stated that the leadership of the party would review their letter in order to address their complaints.

“Hold the fire until the last word is heard from us, we are the custodians of the party as NWC, but we are not acting alone. Hold the fire until the last word is heard from us. Adamu stated that the voice of Tinubu, who is set to become president, is an important voice.

Read Also: APC will review contentious zoning plan for 10th Assembly: Umahi

We need to make it as convenient for him as possible. In regard to that, I will not make any concessions. He is currently traveling outside of the country, and when he returns, by the grace of God, we will revisit the problem, put our heads together once more, and determine what kind of solution we can come up with.

“I am not in a position to anticipate that, so I will hold off until after we have that conversation with the president-elect.”

As senators and members of the house of representatives continued to vehemently push back against it, the governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, declared that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) would review the contentious zoning template for the 10th National Assembly.

Any Nigerian who has been purposefully left out of the country’s larger plans cannot be expected to be patriotic, according to the governor of Ebonyi State, who is also a senator-elect.

Umahi said that Nigeria should be seen as a country where the leadership must sit down and make a deliberate decision to do things differently while responding to questions from journalists at the ongoing induction program for members-elect of the National Assembly organized by the National Assembly and National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) in Abuja.

He asserted that in order to build a country that would be based on equity, fairness, and justice for the overall interest of all the regions of the nation, all six geopolitical zones of the country must engage in dialogue where each zone should be asked what it wants, the problems affecting the zones, and the way forward.

“Democracy is all about finding solutions to all newly arising conflicts. Unavoidable controversies have resulted from our party’s stance. The party would have adopted any position that would have sparked debates or criticism.

“I believe that the party and our leadership have the ability and wisdom to work out any issues that may arise. I have no doubt that they are working on it.

“I’ve said that patriotism should serve as the nation’s baseline. However, if you are being deliberately left out, you cannot be asked to show patriotism. The leadership must take a seat and consciously decide to change the way things are done in order for the nation to be seen as one.

“We need to consult with each zone to learn what their needs are. Discussion and conversation must be sparked. I think that will enable us to solve whatever the issue in the regions may be.

“Our leadership as well as the three branches of the government must be able to sit down and communicate. Nigeria must be prioritized, and we must decide to do so.

Everyone will start to think of this country as their own and start putting Nigeria first because they are a part of the Nigeria project because that is the foundation, built on equity, fairness, and justice.

Without equity, fairness, and justice, there can never be patriotism in this nation. To be patriotic, I must ensure that my own community is upheld, which is why many people refrain from returning to the National Assembly because projects are not carried out in their best interests.

“The public views lawmakers as though they were in charge of carrying out projects,” Accordingly, there ought to be a way to have executive projects located in their regions, so you can use that to leverage on coming back and not squander this experience we gather from here, Umahi said.

A member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and member representing Remo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Adewunmi Onanuga, has protested the exclusion of women in the zoning formula released by her party ahead of the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly (NASS).

Onanuga said all the women who expressed interest in leading the 10th NASS were denied a chance by the APC in a guest appearance on Channels Television’s Lunchtime Politics on Thursday.

“Three of us emerged with aspirations. The reason we wanted to put our hats in the ring is that we feel that the female gender needed to have a seat at the table of decision-making,” she said.

Not one woman, not two women, but “most likely three women in the leadership of 10 people” should be given an opportunity, the representative, who was successfully re-elected to the green chamber, said.

Godswill Akpabio and Barau Jibrin received support from the APC National Working Committee (NWC) earlier this week for the positions of Deputy Senate President and Senate President, respectively. Additionally, Tajudeen Abass and Benjamin Kalu received the support of the ruling party for the jobs of Speaker and Deputy Speaker, respectively.

Onanuga said in a statement on Thursday, “We are requesting that whatever is left in the majority, at least one should come to a woman and two others. I don’t believe that asking for three out of ten is unreasonable.

“There are eight more seats in the House of Representatives after the two presiding seats were filled. Five for minority leaders and three for the majority. If we are to base our decision on the recent court victory for 35 percent affirmative action.

‘There Is No Balance’

The disgruntled candidate for deputy speaker claimed her party ought to have consulted its members before announcing any zoning formula.

“It’s critical that equity win out. There is no balance in the current state. 4-0 for presiding officers is not a good balance. We need to truly engage some more and recognise all those who are aggrieved. I am outraged, mainly for myself and for the (lack of) gender balance,” she stated.