Amidst the disagreement of zoning of leadership positions for the incoming 10th National Assembly, 283 members-elect of the House of Representatives out of the total of 360 have form a coalition to back the zoning formula of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
OsunDaily News reports that the coalition which includes both old and new lawmakers-elect across different party lines said they have resolved to abide by the zoning plan of the ruling party.
It was gathered that the development was contained in a statement titled, ‘10th House: Coalition of Lawmakers-elect Commits to Respect Decision on Zoning…as 283 Lawmakers-elect, Governors, Others Endorse New Forum for a JOINT TASK for a United, Progressive Nigeria,’ which was signed by Usman Kumo (APC/Gombe) and Kingsley Chinda (PDP/Rivers), as chairman and co-chairman of the alliance.
The new alliance in the statement said“The Ahead of the inauguration of the 10th House of Representatives in June, a coalition of returning and new members-elect from all political parties that won seats in the parliament has vowed to respect the decision of the majority party in the House, APC, on zoning the Speaker and Deputy Speaker seats in the House, and decision of opposition parties on minority leadership of the House in line with parliamentary best practices.
“The coalition, known as the ‘Joint Task – 10th Assembly,’ comprises 283 members-elect from the APC, the PDP, the Labour Party, the New Nigeria People’s Party, the Social Democratic Party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, African Democratic Congress and the Young Progressive Party.
“The main focus of the coalition is to promote the independence of the legislature; the inter-dependence of the legislature and other arms of the government to legislate for good governance and grassroots impact, constituency outreach, equity and fairness among members-elect as well as unity, equity and fairness in the emergence of presiding and principal officers in line with best parliamentary practice.
“Already, 283 members-elect, comprising both returning and new members, have endorsed the coalition, which awaits the decision of the ruling APC on the zoning of the various offices. The coalition has the blessings of 14 APC governors, nine PDP governors as well as several National Working Committee members of the ruling and opposition political parties.”
