Several aggrieved aspirants for the National Assembly leadership positions have joined forces against Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila and his plans to proceed with the current zoning arrangement announced by the APC. The aspirants have vowed to stop candidates selected by Gbajabiamila from emerging as presiding officers in the 10th Assembly. According to a source within the APC, the lawmakers are upset that Gbajabiamila swayed the party’s NWC to zone and micro-zone the Speaker and deputy Speaker positions to the North West and South East respectively, excluding other Reps-elect interested in contesting for vacant positions in the 10th Assembly.
In a series of meetings held by the party’s NWC and other party leaders on the zoning arrangement of the principal officers, Gbajabiamila ensured only his candidates were considered. During several meetings, the party agreed that a suitable Christian southern candidate should be considered for the deputy speaker position, but Gbajabiamila persuaded party leaders to adopt his candidate from the South East.
Despite opposition from senior party members at the meeting, Gbajabiamila insisted that his candidate from the South East would “serve the party better.” The senior party members urged the party to remember its promise to include women in positions of power and its commitment to women’s 35 percent slots in government. They also noted that no woman was a presiding officer in the 9th Assembly, and it would be against APC’s principles not to correct the anomaly in the 10th Assembly. However, Gbajabiamila’s proposition prevailed.
To scuttle Gbajabiamila’s list, aggrieved aspirants for the National Assembly leadership positions have come together to stop the current zoning arrangement announced by the APC. They are unhappy with the exclusion of other Reps-elect interested in contesting for vacant positions in the 10th Assembly. During several meetings, Gbajabiamila persuaded party leaders to adopt his candidates, despite opposition from senior party members who urged the party to remember its promise to include women in positions of power and its commitment to women’s 35 percent slots in government.