10th National Assembly: Speakership Aspirant Accused of Offering N4.6m Bribe to APC NWC Members
- Aspirants are reportedly lobbying members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Working Committee (NWC) to influence the decision of the party on zoning
- Some frontline aspirants are said to have deployed financial resources to curry favour from the APC hierarchy
- It was gathered that this is the reason for the delay of the APC to take a definite decision on the matter, leaving room for speculations
FCT, Abuja - Ahead of the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly in June, a source at the national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has alleged that a particular aspirant who wants the party to leave the Speakership position open for the North has offered $10,000 (about N4.6m) to some members of the APC National Working Committee (NWC).
According to the source, the unnamed aspirant wants the position of the House of Representatives Speaker to be zoned to the North and the Senate President to the South which will give him an advantage, Daily Trust reports.
Source: Facebook
However, some members of the APC NWC acknowledged that the party leadership, including the NWC, is engaging the aspirants as part of the move to have a smooth National Assembly leadership election.
A member of the APC NWC who doesn't want to be named said:
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“You cannot stop people from making speculative assumptions on issues like this. It is all part of politics. Everyone has his ways of playing his political games.
“However, I am telling you that I am not aware of anybody being bribed, but the party will make its position known.”
On his part, another member of the APC NWC, Chidi Duru stated that the ruling party is determined to get it right.
Duru said:
"If there’s any inducement as to financial or anything at all; then the person must be going out of the ambit of the directive given by the president-elect (Bola Tinubu) and the party itself.”
Battle for House of Representatives leadership
There is a long list of current members and members-elect that have joined the race.
Some of the lawmakers in the speakership race include Deputy Speaker Idris Wase (APC, Plateau), Yusuf Gagdi (APC, Plateau), Muktar Aliyu Betara (APC, Borno), Ben Kalu (APC, Abia), Sada Soli (APC, Katsina), Tajudeen Abbas (APC, Kaduna) and Abubakar Makki (APC, Jigawa).
Others include Tunji Olawuyi (APC, Kwara) and Aminu Jaji (APC, Zamfara).
Anxiety as Tinubu support groups in North endorse top lawmaker for House of Reps Speaker
Legit.ng earlier reported that a coalition of president-elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu's support groups has thrown its weight behind Betara, the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, for the position of speaker of the 10th National Assembly.
The coalition, under the aegis of Coalition of Asiwaju Groups in Northern Nigeria, said Nigerians are desirous of the dividends of democracy, and Betara stands as the right person to hand that to the citizens from the crop of lawmakers recently elected into the 10th National Assembly.
APC Chairman provides fresh update on zoning of presiding officers of 10th National Assembly
Legit.ng also reported that Abdullahi Adamu, the APC national chairman, said the party is not in a hurry to take a position on the zoning of presiding officers of the coming National Assembly.
Adamu, who said this on Wednesday, May 3, while speaking with journalists after a meeting of the APC NWC, also noted that no formal pronouncement would emanate from the party national secretariat on the much-expected zoning arrangement without the input of Tinubu.
Source: Legit.ng
