The factors of religion, voting pattern, and political base of aspirants will influence how the All Progressives Congress (APC) will zone the office of the Senate President and House of Representatives Speaker.
Since the 2023 election ended and the majority of the members who will make up the 10th national assembly know their fate, the question has been how would the APC zone the principal offices of the assembly?
Well, it was gathered on Monday that the aforementioned factors will influence how the zoning process will be carried out. The APC reportedly delayed deciding on how the offices will be zoned due to the prolonged absence of the president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. 
Naija News has reported that the president-elect returned to Nigeria on Monday over a month after he left the country to rest in France following the 2023 general elections.
In line with his return, the party’s national chairman Senator Abdullahi Adamu is expected to return to the country from his vacation abroad.
A highly placed member of the APC National Working Committee (NWC), who spoke with The Nation, said the party’s national leadership will fashion out the zoning formula, adding that its prescription will be final and binding on the aspirants.
The source said: “No decision has been taken at the party level. But, some factors – religion, voting patterns across the geo-political zones, and the political base of aspirants will be considered. We are waiting for the President-elect and the chairman to return.”
The recommended zoning permutations for the APC
Since the president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu (muslim), and the vice president-elect Kashim Shettima (Muslim), are from the south-west and northeast respectively, the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) did not include the two zones in its zoning recommendations.
The PGF proposed that the Senate President should be given to a Christian senator from the Southeast or Southsouth, which are primarily Christian regions.
According to sources close to the governors, the senate president should be a Christian to ensure religious equality as the first two citizens are Muslims.
However, the forum advised the party to zone the House of representatives Speaker to the Northwest and Northcentral. The Northcentral region has a good number of Christians and Muslims, in contrast to the predominantly Muslim Northwest.
Nasiru El-Rufai, the governor of Kaduna State, requested that the party should zone the House of representatives Speaker to Northwest initially and also wanted the party to micro-zone the office to Kaduna State shortly after the presidential and National Assembly elections.
Because the APC received the most votes in the region, the Northwest stakeholders from the seven states have stepped up their efforts over the past three weeks to have the top National Assembly offices designated to the region.
The fact that the Southeast, Northeast, and Northwest, respectively, have candidates for Speaker and Senate President presents a significant challenge to the ruling party.
Senate President Ahmed Lawan (Yobe, Northeast), Ali Ndume (Borno, Northeast), Sani Musa (Niger, Northcentral), Barau Jibbrin (Kano, Northwest), Dave Umahi (Ebonyi State Governor, Southeast), Osita Izunaso (Imo, Southeast), and Godswill Akpabio (Akwa-Ibom, Southsouth) are among the candidates for Senate President.
The House members eyeing the Speaker include Deputy Speaker Ahmed Idris Wase (Plateau, Northcentral); Aliyu Muktar Betara (Borno, Northeast); Majority Leader Alhassan Ado Donguwa (Kano, Northwest); Olaide Akinremi (Oyo, Southwest); Benjamin Kalu (Abia, Southeast); Tajudeen Abbas (Kaduna, Northwest); Abubakar Yalleman (Jigawa, Northcentral) and Abdulraheem Olawuyi (Kwara, Northcentral) and Yusuf Adamu Gagdi (Plateau, Northcentral).
Massive mobilization, consultation, and campaigning efforts have begun by the candidates around the country to win over influential party leaders and other famous Nigerians.
The NWC member said: “Every member-elect is free to show interest in principal offices, but their bids will in no way affect the decision of the party.”
He added, “The President is around. The President-elect just came in him. We are waiting for the national chairman to return.”
The post Here Is How APC Could Zone Leadership Of 10th NASS appeared first on Naija News.
