APC to opt for consensus arrangement for zoning of 10th national assembly leadership positions

Ahead of the inauguration of the 10th national assembly, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that it will work with the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to come up with an acceptable consensus arrangement for the leadership of the assembly.

The national chairman of the ruling party, Abdullahi Adamu, made this known after a meeting with members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) on Wednesday, May 3.

Adamu said that, “The outcome of the four-hour meeting is that we came out more formidable and united than anything.

“On the issue of zoning, we will carry along the person who has the mandate of this country, the president-elect, Bola Tinubu.

“He travelled after the elections and he came back only last week and we have to carry him along.

“We know that we cannot stop those who are ambitious to become leaders if the 10th national assembly.

“We just have to find a way to persuasively reach some level of consensus. That is what we are working on.

“This cannot be resolved in a day. It is not a day affair,” he added.

The national vice-chairman, north east, Salihu Mustapha, while speaking on Wednesday, also said that the aggrieved national vice-chairman of the party, north-west, Salihu Lukman, has agreed to withdraw the suit he instituted against Adamu and national secretary of the party, Iyiola Omisore.

Mustapha said that, “We had intimate consultations with our brother, Salihu Lukman, on issues like the legal action instituted against Omisore and our national chairman.

“He has agreed to withdraw the case. He has rendered his apology for any seeming embarrassment this his suit and publications may have caused.

“We want to affirm the fact that we are one indivisible committee and we will continue to work together to build an ideal party.

“We will resolve all issues through the instrumentality of the party.

“Political parties are not run on the pages of newspapers, nor are they run on the screens of television but they are being run administratively and we will continue to do that as one house.

“Also, we want to reiterate the fact that this party will not condone indiscipline where one or two people of one organ that is not qualified will just sit and conclude that they have suspended or expelled one of our members.

“A case study of what happened in the south-south. This party will not tolerate it and we are looking into investigating the matter.

“We will ensure that we bring to book individuals or organs that brought this kind of irregularities without following our constitution,” he added.

On his part, the national publicity secretary of the party, Felix Morka, said that the party stands united behind Adamu and Omisore.

Morka, while speaking on the issue of zoning of national assembly leadership positions, said thst the party has enough time to do the needful.

He said that, “We are not wasting time. There is no timeline to do so. The zoning is something that the party will do in due time.

“It is a mechanism by which the party is able to make decisions and afford those who are interested in competing for power in the leadership of the 10th national assembly to do so with minimum rift and rancour.

“We are not in a hurry. We want to do it right,” Morka added.