Scores of demonstrators under the aegis of APC North-Central Stakeholders stormed the National Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to register their displeasure over the exclusion of the region in the zoning of the Senate presidency.
This was even as they insisted that the North-Central would not accept anything less than the Speaker of the House of Representatives as compensation for the sake of equity and federal character.
Chanting solidarity songs and displaying several banners that read, “It’s time to reward North Central,” “North Central deserves Speakership position” and, “We say NO to the imposition of Speaker.”
An effort to disrupt the National Working Committee of the party was, however, rebuffed by stern-looking policemen who mounted guard at the entrance to the national headquarters of the APC.
Speaking with reporters, the spokesman for APC North Central Stakeholders, Salihu Ibrahim, disclosed that they find the alleged plan to scheme out North Central from the Senat3 sharing formula outrageous.
Ibrahim also lamented that it would be unfair and selfish for the leadership of the party not to accord them the Speaker after all the efforts and votes they contributed to Tinubu’s victory.
He said, “Our purpose of storming the APC secretariat today is to see the APC national chairman. We want to ask him what is good for North Central after many contributions to the growth, development, and achievement of APC today. But to my greatest surprise, we learned that North Central is not considered for the senate president and Deputy Senate president zoning. The party is not even seeking to compensate us with Speaker, from every indication is going to be zoned to the North East. That is the height of marginalisation.
“It is disappointing to know that this is happening under the watch of the national chairman of APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, who is also from the North Central. So we want to ask him, what is good for us in the North Central? What was the yardstick or parameter that APC is deploying for the sharing formula of principal offices?
“After all, it is on record that we contributed a lot tirelessly. We all have them on record. That was why we came out here to protest this marginalisation. We need to remind all of us who are members of APC and the people of Nigeria that the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, we are all celebrating today emerged as the flagbearer of APC based on the ideology of the party zoning the presidency to the South.
“It is outrageous to discover that we are not going to be given the chance for Senate president, Deputy Senate president, and even the speaker. We cannot take this. That’s why we won’t leave here today until we hear from our father, the national chairman of the APC. We are therefore asking that the Speaker of the House be zoned to the North Central.”
Barely one hour after the protest, a second group of demonstrators, who identified themselves as the North Central Democratic Coalition, also demanded the office of the Speaker or nothing.
Addressing journalists, the leader of the group, Ben Amodu said, “We have come here in our numbers to demand the zoning of the Speakership position in the North Central. A non-action implies that the region would be left out of the scheme of things because the vice president is from the North-East and the North-West is in strong contention for Senate leadership position.”
A third group of demonstrators under the umbrella of the Coalition of APC Geo-Political Zones Support Group joined other protesters to press on the same demand.
