Less than two weeks to the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly, a member of the All Progressives Congress National Working Committee, Salihu Lukman, has accused the National Chairman of the party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu of working against the zoning template and the favoured candidates for leadership of both chambers of the Parliament.
Lukman, who is the National Vice Chairman, North West of the APC made the allegation in a press statement, titled “APC and Transition Politics,” issued to journalists in Abuja on Wednesday.
Checks revealed that the APC NWC has since ratified the zoning template agreed upon by the Party National Caucus.
According to the zoning arrangement, Senators Godswill Akpabio (South-South) and Barau Jibrin (North West) are expected to emerge as Senate President and Deputy Senate President, respectively.
The duo of Tajudeen Abbas (Zaria Federal Constituency, Kaduna State) and Benjamin Kalu, representing Bende Federal Constituency of Abia State, (South East) are anointed candidates for Speaker and Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives respectively.
The APC national chairman had, however, demanded further consultations following protests by aggrieved aspirants in both chambers of the National Assembly kicking against the favoured candidates.
In the House of Representatives are a coalition of six aspirants called the G-6 led by Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Idris Wase rose to oppose the consensus candidates.
Senators demanding a review of the zoning formula in the Senate include former Zamfara State Governor, who won the election to represent Zamfara West, Abdul Aziz Yari; Senate Chief Whip, Orji Uzor Kalu and the lawmaker representing Niger East, Sani Musa.
Lukman, however, raised the alarm in his statement that the APC national chairman is working in the league along with certain power brokers to frustrate the zoning template already ratified by two statutory organs, the national caucus and the NWC.
“The same conservative bloc is now spewing up hardcore ethnic Northern arguments against the zoning decisions approved by the NWC following the outcome of consultations between Sen. Abdullahi Adamu-led NWC team with President Tinubu. As if those consultations were not designed to produce agreements, once the NWC approved the recommendation for zoning the leadership of the 10th National Assembly, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, instead of acting as the National Chairman, facilitating implementation of decisions of organs of the party, he is acting as a factional leader opposing the decision of the NWC. Instead of working for the success of the decision of the NWC through activating meetings of higher organs of the party to confer more legitimacy to the decision of the NWC, he seems to be more interested in ensuring that the 2015 model of rebellious leadership emerge in the 10th National Assembly.”
Lukman who restated his concern that the leadership of Senator Adamu has been usurping the functions of other organs of the party called for concerted efforts to ensure that both the party’s national secretariat and the government work on the same page.
“As things are, the biggest challenge for APC of concluding the transitory journey into the new era of President Tinubu is whether the vision of producing a progressive party managing progressive governance initiatives will be produced. To have a progressive party requires dynamism, action and improvement both in the management of the APC and governments it produced. “This is more about responding to challenges facing Nigeria with unconventional initiatives aimed at producing results that will accelerate Nigeria’s march towards democratic development than anything else. Inability to guarantee accelerated Nigeria’s march towards democratic development is the source of frustration for Nigerians and is why Nigerians would find failed and colourless politicians in other parties attractive during elections.”
