The All Progressives Congress’s (APC) National Working Committee (NWC) is going to open up the race for the leadership positions in the 10th National Assembly, which means that anyone can run for those positions.

You may recall that the party had announced that Senator Godswill Akpabio (South-South) would be its consensus candidate for the presidency of the Senate in the 10th Assembly, and that Senator Jibrin Barau (North West) would be the party’s preferred candidate for the position of Deputy Senate President.
In addition, the All Progressives Congress (APC) decided that Tajudeen Abbas (North West) would be its preferred candidate for the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives, while Benjamin Kalu (South East) would be the party’s consensus choice for the position of Deputy Speaker.
However, the zoning arrangement that was announced by the party in power elicited irate responses from newly elected lawmakers who had previously stated their intention to run for the principal offices.

According to sources who spoke with the Vanguard on Wednesday, the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is concerned that its proposed zoning may be thwarted, and it is recommending to Bola Tinubu, the President-elect, that the contest be thrown open.
The stalwart member of the APC also stated that the leadership of the party had learned that the dissatisfied aspirants, also known as the G-6, have already chosen a candidate that they all agree on among themselves.

He said:
“It appears the National Working Committee is suspicious that their plan may not go as planned and that is why they are recommending a free contest.

“Secretly, they have recommended a free contest because they (NWC) have intelligence that the G-6 aspirants have already adopted a consensus candidate among themselves but they have not revealed the identity of that person.

“The G-6 aspirants are confusing the party, the Gbaja boys are also confused because they don’t know who they are throwing up.”

Another source told Vanguard that the G-6 speakership aspirants might have settled to pick a deputy speaker from the South-South geo-political zone.

He said:

“Secondly, they have got concrete information that the G-6 is going to the South-South to pick their deputy.”

Also speaking, a lawmaker-elect said the party leadership needs to quickly address the zoning arrangement in order not to allow the issue to fester into a party crisis.

The APC chieftain also revealed that there is credible intelligence that the aggrieved aspirants who have formed the G-6 are already in an alliance with the opposition parties.

He said: “There are issues and they need to be confronted because the more we delay in solving the issues once and for all, the more we keep on having fresh ones.

“For instance, we have credible intelligence that the aggrieved aspirants who have formed the G-6 are already in an alliance with the opposition parties.

“Initially, we thought it was not going to work but we gathered credible information that they swore to themselves not to betray one another and went ahead to concede the deputy speakership slot to the opposition parties.

“We first considered it an act of indiscipline and anti-party but in a second thought, we needed to be smart to throw the contest open to all aspirants. Whoever wins at every point is after all a party man.

“Some suggested that they should be sanctioned but we looked at the bigger picture because we must learn from experience as party administrators. What are the consequences for those aspirants? And what are those consequences on the party as a whole?

“So, the message the party chairman gave to Senator Akpabio and his team when they visited was a coded message. It is left for them to decode it because it is difficult to do another rejoinder to repudiate what we had said earlier on zoning.

“More importantly, our initial thought was that the aggrieved aspirants would quickly adopt someone amongst them but they are also smart enough not to do so for now.

“That keeps the suspense high and it will be risky to allow them to do the damage by allying with the opposition parties swiftly on the floor of the parliament that day.

“Of course, we know too well that most of the people milling around Akpabio or Abbas are playing politics. So, what is the guarantee that all are with us?

“So we have decided to slow down and lower our tone on streamlining to individuals; let all those interested come out to contest because if we don’t allow that to happen, the gang up of the aggrieved APC aspirants and the opposition will be too risky for us.”

 

A think-tank of intellectuals from the 19 Northern states has urged a group of six aspirants for Speaker in the 10th National Assembly to adopt Idris Wase as their consensus candidate for the position.

The Northern Patriotic and Democratic Coalition said the aspirants must unite behind the Deputy Speaker to stop the imposition of Tajudeen Abbas on Nigerians by Femi Gbajabiamila.

Recall that the All Progressives Congress had purportedly endorsed Abbas and Ben Kalu for Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively.

The choice of Abbas has been welcomed with widespread outrage, with many critics claiming he is being foisted on the party and House of Representatives by Gbajabiamila.

Consequently, in protest, six other aspirants formed an alliance known as the Coalition of Progressive Speakership Aspirants (COPSA).

They comprise Wase, Muktar Betara, Sada Soli, Aminu Sani Jaji, Yusuf Gagdi, and Miriam Unuoha.

In a statement through its Publicity Director, Dr. Mrs. Regina Audu, on the state of the nation and the way forward for the National Assembly leadership tussle, the group urged the aspirants to shelve their ambitions in support of Wase.

Audu said to stop the “imminent Abbas calamity” from befalling the nation, a robust coalition comprising of men and women of goodwill, strong in character and purpose must speak with one voice.

While admitting that each member of the coalition is very much qualified and deserving of the position, she said Wase has an edge as the current deputy Speaker.

Audu noted that Wase is the perfect blend of experience, competence, and capacity – key traits Abbas lacks.

She added that with the Plateau lawmaker as Speaker, the North Central’s agitation and perceived neglect would have been effectively addressed.

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” Wase epitomizes character, competence, and capacity. A five-timer, he is the most experienced of all the aspirants and would represent the interest of the majority of the members and not that of Gbaja,” Audu said.

“Wase hasn’t been a mere spectator all these years. In his four terms, he held the chairmanship of key committees and sponsored at least a dozen bills.

“As Chair of the Federal Character Commission, for instance, the current deputy speaker paid no attention to “connections” by ensuring that Nigerians from different ethnic and religious backgrounds get employed in Ministries, Departments, and Agencies of the federal government, strictly based on merit. This endeared Wase to many children of less-privileged Nigerians.

“As the Chair of the House Committee of the Whole, he was key to the passage of critical bills such as the PIB, and the amendments to the new Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), which has already been noted to be easing doing business in Nigeria.

“As the chairman of the Ad hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, Wase achieved uncommon milestones. President Muhammadu Buhari has just assented to some of the bills passed in the amendment of the constitution. Some of these assented bills will promote true federalism, devolution of powers from the center to the states, as well as strengthen government institutions.

“At the continental level, Wase is currently the first deputy speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament. This is no mean feat. As the first deputy speaker of that parliament, he has been a champion of Nigeria’s national interests within the broader interests of the West African sub-region.

“Wase’s achievements have endeared him to colleagues who respect him. The first-timers look up to him. In Wase, you have a complete package and with the backing of these five powerful aspirants, we are sure he will defeat Gbaja and the enemies of Nigeria.

“It is on this note that we wish to appeal to the Coalition of Progressive Speakership Aspirants to support one of their own. While each member has the right to contest for the coveted seat, it is best to unite for a common cause with Wase as a figurehead.

“Our nation is at a critical period and only men and women of goodwill can save it from collapse. Gbaja and Abbas don’t mean well for Nigeria. Thankfully, there are still patriotic Nigerians who can neutralize their gimmicks.”