In a bid to address the zoning of principal officers of the incoming 10th National Assembly, President-elect Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Vice President-elect Kashim Shettima met with National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Sen Abdullahi Adamu, and other party leaders. The meeting was held at Defence House in Abuja where the President-elect had gone for inspection ahead of the May 29 inauguration.
In attendance were Senate President Ahmad Lawan, Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege, Speaker of the House of Representatives Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, and Speaker of Kaduna State House of Assembly Hon Yusuf Zailani. APC NWC members at the meeting include Deputy National Chairman (North), Senator Abubakar Kyari, Deputy National Chairman (South), Emma Eneukwu, National Secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore, and former Secretary of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, James Faleke.
At the end of the meeting, those in attendance left the Defence House without disclosing details of the closed-door meeting to journalists. A source close to the meeting revealed that while the zoning arrangement for principal officers of the 10th National Assembly was discussed, the meeting was adjourned to yesterday night to arrive at a conclusion on the matter.
Tinubu, who is expected to officially move to Defence House after being declared the winner of the presidential polls, inspected the level of renovation in the official residence of Nigeria’s President-elect.
Leadership reports that Tinubu’s house had become a Mecca for federal lawmakers who had besieged his Asokoro residence to lobby for the Senate President, Speaker of the House, and other key principal offices of the 10th Assembly.
On Tuesday, Senator Godswill Akpabio, Senator Jibrin Barau, Senator Olamilekan Adeola, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, Senator Emma Bwacha, and Senator Tokunbo Abiru visited Tinubu’s residence.
Yesterday, Senate Chief Whip Orji Uzo Kalu and Senator Osita Izunaso presented their certificates of return as Senators-elect to Tinubu. However, they insisted that it was a welcome visit to Tinubu who had returned to the country after a month’s vacation in Paris, France. Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule and former Imo State Governor Senator Rochas Okorocha were also at Tinubu’s residence to welcome him.
Discussions during the visits had always bordered on the mode of zoning of principal offices of the 10th National Assembly. The intense lobby by the lawmakers for key positions and some desperate politicians who have been angling for the scrapping of zoning of the National Assembly positions necessitated the meeting.
It was gathered that Tinubu told the APC chiefs to consider a Christian from the South-South geopolitical zone to be the Senate President, while the Speaker of the House of Representatives should be zoned to the North West. Tinubu met with the Senators individually and discussed with them what he had discussed with the party hierarchy.
Senator Opeyemi Bamidele was endorsed by his colleagues in attendance to be Senate leader, while Senator Adeola was tipped to be Chairman of Senate Committee on Appropriation and Abiru as Chairman of Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions.
It was further learned that Tinubu asked the Senators to meet with Senate President Lawan, who would champion the Akpabio/Barau Senate presidency campaign.