Opposition caucus in the the House of Representatives have said they don’t have any business with the zoning of principal positions of the House by the All Progressive Congress(APC).
OsunDaily News reports that the opposition caucus under the aegis of ‘Greater Majority’ has vowed to upstage the ruling APC in the House.
Speaking after the caucus’s meeting in Abuja, the Secretary of the caucus, Efosa Imasuen said they are more than prepared for the task ahead.
The caucus had in a communiqué declared its intention of producing the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House for the incoming 10th National Assembly.
The caucus said it had no business with APC’zoning because they are doing things in their own way.
Imasuen submitted that “We are more than prepared. As we said in our communiqué, we have more numbers than the APC. We even have some members of the APC who are ready to align with us.
“Yes, we have people from the APC that are ready to align with us because of our style of leadership, our style of governance, our approach to people, and the country. People are in tune with what we are doing.
“That gives us the impetus to think and know that if we vie for this office, we can get it and give Nigerians what they truly want – a sincere government.
“We don’t have business with APC’s zoning. We get to understand certain things and how they are not sincere with a lot of things that they say and do. We remember when they said they zoned their presidential ticket to the South but had people like Ahmed Lawan running, and he was even declared the candidate of the APC at a point.
“So, at this juncture, we can’t even take them seriously when they say they are going to zone. It is a fallacy; they keep on deceiving people with that zoning thing.
“So, if you want to zone, be fair. If the APC is talking about zoning, their track record about zoning has not been realistic and is not something that somebody will hold onto,” he also said. But a member-elect on the platform of the PDP who spoke to our reporter on condition of anonymity, said, although the caucus of his party has resolved to field candidates for the speakership position, in conjunction with other opposition parties, he has a preferred candidate in the ruling APC.
“My candidate is Betara and as long as he is in the race, I will support him even if it goes against what was resolved by my caucus. This is my personal stand, and it will not be affected by the collective decision.”
It was gathered that membership of the caucus is drawn from the main opposition parties: the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Young People’s Party (YPP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Labour Party (LP).
The caucus asserts that they have the majority in the Green Chamber with 180 representatives, while APC has 178.
