APC adopts Plateau's Hon Idris Wase as its candidate for House of Reps deputy speaker

ALL Progressives Congress (AP) leaders have adopted Plateau State lawmaker Hon Idris Wase as their candidate for the position of House of Representatives deputy speaker in the forthcoming ninth National Assembly due to elect its now officials on June 10.

In the House of Representatives since 2011, Hon Wase who represents the Wase Federal Constituency is being backed as a the man the APC wants to be deputy for Lagos lawmaker Hon Femi Gbajabiamila. In the senate, the APC is backing Yobe North's Senator Ahmad Lawan for senate president, while the choice for deputy senate president is a straight fight between Senator Ovie Omo-Agege of Delta Central and Senator Francis Alimikhena of Edo North.

Hon Gbajabiamila has spent the last month campaigning vigorously and even led a delegation of about 50 lawmakers to Saudi Arabia for the lesser hajj. With Hon Wase now being backed as his deputy, it appears that the APC has agreed on its full line-up of National Assembly leaders.

However, the APC line-up does not address the vexed issue of zoning as the southeast geo-political zone is not represented in any of the positions. Across the southeast, there is dissatisfaction that they do not have the speakership position, especially as Hon Gbajabiamila comes from the southwest like vice president Professor Yemi Osinbajo.

Nigeria has six geo-political zones and with President Muhammadu Buhari coming from the northwest and Prof Osinbajo coming from the southwest, the four leading National Assembly positions were expected to be filled by the other zones. Senator Lawan is from the northeast and Hon Wase is from the north central geo-political zone, so apart from the speakership position, the zoning formula looks acceptable.

Hon Abdulmumin Jibrin from Kano State, who is the director-general the Femi Gbajabiamila Campaign Council, recently posted the picture of Hon Gbajabiamila and Hon Wuse on his Twitter page. He then added t a massage, warning that any APC lawmaker who fails to support the party’s choice will be sanctioned.

“If you are an APC member and against the two, you are on collision course with the party. 2015 is not 2019 in so many ways and we are assuring our 360 colleagues that Femi and Wase will run an all-inclusive House," Hon Jibrin added.