APC under pressure to cede Reps speakership to N’West

The All Progressives Congress (APC) is under pressure to cede the House of Representatives speakership to the North West geopolitical zone.

A lobby group, believed to have the backing of Governor Nasir el-Rufai, argued that the zone contributed in no small measure to the victory of APC in the recent presidential poll.

House Leader, Ado Alhassan Doguwa; former Chairman, House Committee on Internal Security and Intelligence, Aminu Jaji and Tajudeen Abass are among the leading contenders for the plum job.

APC’s National Vice Chairman, North West, Dr. Salihu Lukman, who is already in support of the clamour, stressed the need for the leadership profile of the 10th National Assembly to take the colouration of the leadership of the country in 1999, which had a President from South West and Vice President from North East.

He argued that it had become compelling that the Senate President should come from either the South South or South East, while the North West, which produced more votes for the party in the presidential election, be allowed to produce the House Speaker in line with what obtained in 1999.

Already, a member of the lobby group, who preferred anonymity, confided in The Guardian that they were looking the way of Tajudeen Abbas to occupy the plum job.

He argued that since Kano, Katsina and Sokoto states had produced Speakers of the House, it would be fair to cede the seat to Kaduna this time around.

Former Speakers of the House – Salisu Buhari and Ghali Na’Abba hail from Kano, while Aminu Masari and Aminu Tambuwal hail from Katsina and Sokoto states respectively.

In another development, stakeholders in the North West have urged the APC to consider Sen. Barau Jibrin as suitable candidate for the position of Senate president.

Among the stakeholders is the North West APC youth wing, which has continued to drum support for the ranking senator, representing Kano North.

The APC has yet to concludeon which zone produces the chairman of the 10th National Assembly.

At a separate advocacy visit to Senator Danladi Sankara (Jigawa North West) and first Fourth Republic senator for Kano South, Mas’ud El-Jibril, the two APC stalwarts saw Jibrin as eminently qualified to preside over the red chamber.

Sankara disclosed: “Barau Jibrin possesses the leadership qualities and experience to steer the ship of the Senate. He has built bridges across party lines and cultivated the positive attitude in the Senate for him to be considered.

“Though, so many factors will come to play on the floor of the Senate when it comes to the leadership consideration, I believe Jibrin belongs to everyone in the Senate and I have no doubt he would be considered. I assure him of my support.”

On his part, Mas’ud revealed that he would be rightly positioned to support for Jibrin’s candidature as Senate President, if the APC zones the position to the North West.

Leader of the APC youth, Mujahideen Zaitawah, told journalists that the youth would sustain its advocacy and mobilisation across critical stakeholders within and outside APC to win support for Jibrin.

He, however, cautioned those whipping up religious and regional sentiments against the candidate from the North West, noting that Nigeria could no longer fall for any divisive sentiment.