National & Local News Today - Latest News in Nigeria Today
Gbajabiamila Opens Up On APC’s Zoning Arrangement
Femi Gbajabiamila, the departing Speaker of the House of Representatives, provided insight into the APC’s selection of Tajudeen Abbas as Speaker and Benjamin Kalu as Deputy Speaker of the upcoming 10th National Assembly.
Gbajabiamila Opens Up On APC’s Zoning Arrangement
Gbajabiamila gave a speech on Wednesday night in Abuja at a gathering of the Joint Task – 10th Assembly, a grouping of APC and opposition party representatives in the next 10th National Assembly.
Tajudeen Abbas and Benjamin Kalu, the APC’s chosen candidates for Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the 10th House, respectively, had been endorsed by the coalition.
Also Read: Matawalle Urges EFCC To Probe Presidency, Other Public Officials
Gbajabiamila recalled how he told Abbas he would abide by only the decision of the APC, saying, “But as God would have it…and I will say this because a lot of people think and give me more credit and more power than it is due me. A lot of people think I zoned speakership…I handpicked and zoned. I wish I had those powers.
“I said to the people who zoned, ‘Why North-West?’ They said to me, ‘Go and read your political history;’ that from the day Nigeria was born, the North-West being the largest of voting blocs with seven states has never ever been outside the top four of the hierarchy in Nigeria. I said I didn’t know that.”
The Speaker also noted that the emergence of the APC on the political scene was basically between the South-West and the North-West.
“Why would it be in my time or our time that the North-West will be left out of the calculation? That is why they zoned it to the North-West, amongst many other reasons, apart from the number of votes that they brought – 30 per cent of our figures,” he said.
Gbajabiamila added, “The North-West wanted the Vice-President. The President-elect decided to go to the North-East. So, the least he could do was to compensate them with speakership in terms of what they bring to the table. It is as simple as that. I did not zone it. I wish I could.”
