Three North Central lawmakers running for the leadership of the National Assembly have been urged to withdraw from the race after Senator George Akume, a former governor of Benue State, was named the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Senator Sani Musa, who wants to be Deputy Senate President, Idris Wase, who is currently the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Yusuf Gagdi, who is running for Speaker, are the three North Central lawmakers vying for the leadership of the National Assembly.
Akume, a native of Benue, had been appointed SGF by President Bola Tinubu on Friday.
The appointment came after weeks of protests from the North Central region over the Speaker’s position and the Deputy Senate President’s zoning to the North-West geopolitical zone.
A group known as the North Central Progressive for Development applauded Tinubu’s selection of Akume in a statement released over the weekend, claiming that the North Central had been settled.
To the glory of God, our zone now has two important figures in the government, according to the declaration, which was signed by Ibrahim Tajo, the Chairman of the NCPFD. In addition to the SGF, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, a former governor of Nasarawa State, is a well-known figure in our zone and has served as the National Chairman of our great party, the All Progressives Congress, for the past 15 months.
“While Senator Adamu directs party business through the National Working Committee, our recently appointed SGF serves as Tinubu’s executive branch. In the North Central geopolitical zone, President Tinubu has thus dried our tears.
“Weeks ago, when the President and the leadership of our great party zoned the positions of the Deputy Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to the North-West geopolitical zone, we protested against the North Central’s exclusion and requested a review of the zoning arrangement given our contributions to the Tinubu administration during the presidential election.”
“For our three brothers who are running for leadership of the National Assembly, it is time for them to withdraw from the race in accordance with the decision of the president and our party,” the group declared. Don’t upset the apple cart; we’ve been rewarded.
