The Concerned North Central All Progressives Congress (APC) Stakeholders Forum, says the region may not support the party in 2027 if the zoning arrangement of the 10th National Assembly is not reviewed.
TheHintsNews recalls that the ruling party had recently endorsed Senator Godswill Akpabio (South-South) as the Senate President of the 10th Senate, Senator Jibrin Barau (North-west) as the Deputy Senate President; and Hon. Abass Tajudeen (North-West) as the Speaker and Hon. Ben Kalu (South-east) as the Deputy Speaker.
The National Coordinator of the group, Dominic Alancha gave the warning while addressing a press conference on Monday in Abuja.
It maintained that the positions of Deputy Senate President and Speaker cannot be zoned to the North-west when the North Central has not been given anything, insisting that the region cannot be totally excluded from the zoning arrangement.
The group, therefore, demanded that the four principal positions in the National Assembly are shared among the zones other than the zones the president and vice president hail from.
Alancha stated: “The agitation today was because of the total exclusion of North Central. It is an aberration and unacceptable.
“If our people feel shortchanged, do you think our people will support the party in 2027? It is unfortunate that our governors are nowhere to speak, the region is looking up to them. We are telling them the feelings of our people.”
The group described as inexplicable and biased the decision of the APC to introduce strange and obtuse arrangements where a whole geopolitical zone was sidelined while another was given two key positions in the National Assembly hierarchy.
The group said it cannot fold its arms and do nothing when a situation that could lead to social cataclysm was being introduced.
It commended the cooperation and unity of the six aspirants who have come together under one umbrella to resist the attempt at the imposition of an unpopular candidate as the next Speaker of the House of Representatives.
It also urged Senator Sani Musa to remain strong in the race to defend the interest of the North Central Region.
Alancha added: “We note the observation that the national chairman of our great party is from the North Central zone and with the appointment of Senator George Akume as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, that the North Central has been compensated,
“But we say no to these assertions as they do not respect the principle of separation of power in a democracy.”
The group added that while the executive arm could decide what was best suited for it in allocating offices within it, the parliament operates on a principle that complements the two topmost positions in the executive arm.