10th Assembly: Leadership Crisis Worsens as North Central Governors Dismiss Tinubu's Candidates

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has been urged by the governors of the North Central geopolitical zone to examine the zoning of candidates for leadership positions in the tenth National Assembly.

Godswill Akpabio of the South-South (Akwa-Ibom) and Barau Jibrin of the North-West (Kano) were identified as the preferred candidates for Senate President and vice President, respectively, by the APC and President-elect Bola Tinubu.

Tajudeen Abbas of the North-West (Kaduna) and Benjamin Kalu of the South-East (Abia), respectively, were endorsed by the party for the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.

In order to discuss the possibility of revisiting the zoning template, the governors of the North Central states agreed to meet with Abdullahi Adamu, the APC National Chairman and the next president.

At a meeting of their caucus on Monday night in Abuja, they came to the conclusion after deliberating on the matter for several hours.

The governors asserted that they agreed with the position taken by the newly elected senators from the North Central region, who had earlier called for the zone to be permitted to produce the vice president of the senate.

Participants at the meeting signed the resolution, including Abubakar Sani Bello, the governor of Niger State and the head of the North Central Governors Forum.

Others are: Governors Simon Lalong (Plateau); Abdulrahaman Abdulrazaq (Kwara); Abdullahi Sule, (Nasarawa); Yahaya Bello (Kogi); Rev. Fr Hyacinth Alia, Governor-elect, (Benue); Senator Mohammed Sani Musa; (Aspirant); Rt. Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives (Aspirant) and Yusuf Gagdi, Reps Member (Aspirant).

The resolution, made available to journalists, read: "The meeting reviewed the proposed zoning structure released, and promised to reach out to the President-elect His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and APC National Working Committee to appeal for re- consideration of the zoning of the presiding offices of the National Assembly as released by the NWC.

"The meeting discussed the zoning as released and raised reservation with the allocation of the positions of the Deputy Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the 10th National Assembly to a particular geopolitical zone of the country.

"The meeting resolved and agreed to fully utilize all necessary dialogue and consultations to resolving the NASS leadership issue, they all agreed to reach out to all major stakeholders for an amicable and acceptable zoning framework that will be all inclusive.

"The Governors agreed with the aspirants' positions and appealed to all senators and members-elect to continue to give Mr President-elect all the support needed for the smooth take up of the 10th National Assembly, while also furthering consultations."

The 10th National Assembly leadership positions were declared last week, but only one geopolitical region—the North Central—had been entirely ignored.

As a result of the controversy the zoning formula caused, the APC National Chairman has stated that the party might think about revisiting it.