A coalition of youth groups of the All Progressives Congress in the North-Central geopolitical zone, North-Central APC Young Patriots, has vowed to resist the zoning attempt.
The group said it would resist any attempt by the party to zone the speakership of the House of Representatives to any other zone.
The group which was reacting to moves by the leadership of the ruling APC to zone the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives to the South West, insisted that the position must go the North Central which gave the President the second largest vote during the election.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Saturday at the Stone Edge Hotel, Abuja, the Convener, APC Young Patriot, Mr. Dominic Alancha, said though the party had yet to officially announce the zoning to the South West, it should not do so to avoid a repeat of what happened in 2015.
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He said: “If the party goes ahead to zone the position of the Speaker to the South West because it wants to foist a particular candidate on lawmakers, disregarding popular support and equitable zoning formula, it will thereby be shortchanging the North Central of its hard-earned right which will be resisted by this group.
“One would expect that since the Senate presidency was zoned to the North East being the zone that contributed the highest number of votes after the North West, the speakership position will naturally go to the next in line, the North Central zone, which produced the second largest votes after the North East (2,465,599).”
The group contended that it would be unjust if the North Central was denied the position and wondered why the party was tying to shift its position.
Alancha: “So, why is the party suddenly shifting the goal post when it comes to zoning the Speakership position by considering the SouthWest that performed less than the North Central and even already has the number two position of a Vice President? ls this an equitable thing to do?”
