The leadership of incoming National Assembly has become a topic of hot discussion in different circles.

No huge surprise that All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) both hol majority and minority roles respectively in both chambers.

APC is expected to produce all the candidates for the principal post, following precedence that has been followed since 1999 but it looks like that honour may be slipping out of the party’s hands.

The ninth national assembly will be inaugurated in less than two months and APC leadership is yet to decide on the zoning arrangement that will produce the next leadership for the houses.

Last week, when news broke that the party leadership has not met to decide on the issue, the party reacted, maintaining that it is not in a rush to release the zoning arrangement.

Remember that, it had endorsed Senator Ahmed Lawan to contest for Senate President in the 9th assembly but has not endorsed any other candidate or geo-political zone for any other principal post.

However, it seems like the party has had began deliberations on the arrangement considering that its National Publicity Secretary, Lanre Issa-Onilu, during an interview with newsmen yesterday disclosed that the ruling party is working on a zoning arrangement for the leadership of the ninth National Assembly.

This comes on the heels of alleged plot to alienate the South-east geopolitical zone in the scheme of things within the leadership of the incoming federal legislature.

While speaking with reporters yesterday in Abuja, Issa-Onilu said, “Our party will soon release the zoning arrangements for the principal positions of the incoming 9th National Assembly.”

He added that the party will also make its position clear in the coming days on the principal positions in the House of Representatives.

The position of Speaker of the House of Representatives is hotly contested by House Leader Femi Gbajabiamila (APC, Lagos), Ahmed Idris Wase (APC, Plateau), and Abdulrazak Namdas (APC, Adamawa).

Others are Mohammed Umar Bago (APC, Niger), Babangida Ibrahim (APC, Katsina), Muktar Aliyu Betara (APC, Borno) and Nkeiruka Onyeajocha (APC, Abia) as the top contenders from the six geopolitical zones.

Meanwhile, the North Central Elders Forum (NCEF) of the APC, has disclosed that the postition of the Speakership be zoned to its region considering that it contributed more to President Buhari’s win that the South-West where it has been tipped that the position will be zoned to.

Image Credit: Google Image Search, The Punch

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