A contender for the speakership of the House of Representatives, John Chike Okafor (APC, Imo), has warned that the APC risks a repeat of the 2015 scenario ahead of the election of leaders of the 9th Assembly in June.
Okafor stated this yesterday in Abuja while briefing newsmen on the recent disagreement by some APC lawmakers, especially those from the South East, with APC’s zoning of the four principal positions in the forthcoming 9th Assembly.
He said although the “APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, has been lobbying for his preferred candidates for the positions, Nigerians might be shocked with the final outcome of the election in June.”
The lawmaker, who admitted that the party’s preferred candidate, Femi Gbajabiamila (APC, Lagos), was eminently qualified for the job, however, cautioned that APC must not put “seeming merit” above “federal character, social justice and equitable inclusion” as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.
According to him, the need for national unity and sense of belonging demands that the South East should be allowed to produce the Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives instead of the South West that already occupies the position of vice president.
“With regard to the party’s zoning arrangement, the approach being adopted now is not different from what happened in 2015. Interestingly, we are having the same two candidates we had in 2015, and you know the outcome. We are waiting to see what the outcome will be in 2019,” he said.
