APC Hasn’t Learnt From The Past – Lawmakers Reject ‘Micro Zoning

Some Senators on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has kicked against what they call micro-zoning of the position of the Senate president.

According to them, the APC has not learnt from it’s past concerning the politics of the National Assembly.

They said the party is unwilling to take cues from previous mistakes, where those endorsed were rejected by senators and opted for neutral presiding officers, Naija News learnt.

This is even as APC governors from the South East, David Umahi of Ebonyi State and Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, have come under fire for allegedly selling out in making a strong case for the South East in the zoning of National Assembly offices.

Their reaction follows reports that the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, had allegedly endorsed Godswill Akpabio, a move which has been rejected by the various caucuses of the Senate.

Similarly last week, the National Working Committee (NWC) of APC, led by the national chairman of the party, Abdullahi Adamu, said the party was still consulting and would announce its position soon.

He had said: “When we do the zoning meeting, we don’t just go alone as a party. Zoning is to take along the person, who has the mandate of this country, the president-elect, Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu; we want to take him along. He travelled after the election and he came back only last week and we have to carry him along.

“And we cannot stop those who are ambitious or zoning interests, or individual interests, we cannot deny them. And as long as that is there, we have to find a way, persuasively, to reach some level of consensus. That’s what we are working on. It is not a one-day affair.”

Reacting to the micro zoning, some of the lawmakers who spoke to The Sun said if the president-elect want peace in his administration, he should allow for an independent legislature that is not subservient to the executive.

They asserted that by constitutional design, the National Assembly and the Executive arm are not expected to be on same page, but they would always find a common ground in the interest of Nigeria’s democracy.

Some of the lawmakers who are opposed to the micro-zoning and the hurried decision taken by the outgoing APC governors, argued that the position should be zoned to the entire South and the contest be open in order to create a sense of belonging.

One of the lawmakers said “Opposition senators-elect and some APC lawmakers, are insisting that the 10th National Assembly should be allowed to elect its own leaders. If the call by lawmakers is ignored, Tinubu may face a similar challenge experienced by Muhammadu Buhari when Bukola Saraki held sway as President of the Senate.

“The current Senate, whose leadership was determined by the Executive is a clear example why Nigeria needs an independent National Assembly, where lawmakers are expected to watch the excesses of the Executive.” 

Another lawmakers from the North noted that “Of what relevance is their endorsement? We’re still calling on Tinubu not to make a mistake in the early stages of his presidency by listening to selfish people who want to undermine the National Assembly.

“I’m a Fulani man and I understand what it means to be sidelined. The South East has been sidelined by the APC since Muhammadu Buhari took office in 2015. If Tinubu continues with the same thing, it means we’re telling the Igbo that they don’t belong to this country.

“You can’t ignore a major tribe in the first three leadership positions in this country. We know that Tinubu will not appoint an Igbo man as the Secretary to Government of the Federation. A leadership position in the Senate maybe their best shot.”