The North-Central Caucus of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the House of Representatives has called on the members of the APC in a press conference on Tuesday 19th March 2019 to zone the position of the speaker to them. This call was made by the John Dyegh (Benue, APC) on behalf of the caucus members in what he described as a call for the spirit of equity and justice.
In signing the speech, John Dyegh was accompanied by only four others in a statement he tagged “for and on behalf of the APC North-Central Caucus.”
Highlights of the statement read:
“We, the members of the North-Central Caucus of the All Progressives Congress in the House of Representatives, called this briefing to express our position with respect to the leadership position of the ninth Assembly.”
“You are not unaware of the interest the issue of the leadership of the next assembly has generated in the public space. We want to use this medium to acknowledge the supremacy of our party, the APC, in addressing the issue of zoning of positions in an equitable, just and fair manner that will foster unity and cordial relations among members of our party and our colleagues from the other political divides.”
“We are confident of the ability and capacity of the national leadership of the APC to do what is right to all in order to advance national cohesion, balance of power and federal character.”
“It is in this regard that we humbly wish to appeal to our great party, the APC, to strongly consider the North-Central geopolitical zone for the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the 9th Assembly.”
According to John Dyegh, giving the slot to the North-Central zone would satisfy and advance the cause of equity “since the North-West and the South-West already have the president and vice-president positions, respectively.” He also added that apart from the North-West and the North-East, the North-Central “delivered handsomely for the party in the general elections and as such needs to be rewarded for the hard work and loyalty.”
He buttress his argument by stating that, “The need to ensure balance and spread between and among the six geopolitical zones has made it imperative to give prime consideration to the North-Central zone to produce the position of the speaker. Being the zone with delicate and peculiar location and challenges within the federation, it is of utmost importance to carry us along in the hierarchy of power distribution in the country as this will in no small measure, help in stabilising the polity.”
