The absence of the country’s president-elect, Bola Tinubu, has slowed the zoning of key positions in the 10th National Assembly.
According to a member of the All Progressives Congress‘ National Working Committee (NWC), there may be an emergency meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) upon Tinubu’s return to the country.
According to an APC official who spoke with the Saturday Sun, key decisions will be made at the meeting.
The APC chieftain stated that the race for Senate President has been narrowed down to the Chief Whip of the Senate and former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu, and former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio.
He went on to say that Tinubu’s men are already shortlisting names of potential candidates for top National Assembly positions, but that no decision has been made.
The NWC member said;
Those names people are circulating as having been endorsed are false. APC and Tinubu are yet to take a position on the issue of zoning. That will be done as soon as Tinubu returns from Europe and Saudi Arabia.
To be frank, I don’t know who will be endorsed. But I know that the race is between Kalu and Akpabio. Every other contender is pretending and they know it.
He added that more people favour South East in the calculation because the zone does not hold any presiding office in the 9th Assembly.
As a gesture of goodwill, the APC chieftain stated that there is discussion about giving the South East a sense of belonging.
He revealed that, rather than excluding the South East as President Muhammadu Buhari has done, the incoming Tinubu administration may embrace them.
The source added;
South East is tops in the thinking. Many people are favourably disposed to wooing the zone. We suspect that if the region is fully integrated, APC could gain more ground there and win more parliamentary and governorship seats in the coming years.
