A Southeast youth group, under the auspices of Igbo Mandate Movement has called on the All Progressives Congress, APC, to zone the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives to the zone.
They made the demand in Enugu on Tuesday during a press conference addressed by the group’s coordinator, Mr Igboeli Arinzechukwu.
He urged the ruling APC to zone the seat to the Southeast region for the sake of equity and unity of the country.
Newspot reports that intense lobbying is ongoing ahead of the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly.
Igboeli noted that following the election of Senator Bola Tinubu and Senator Kashim Shettima as President-elect and Vice President-elect, respectively, it was only fair that the Speakership position be given to the Southeast.
While justifying the demand, he said: “The first of such is based on the historical fact that since the emergence of Rt. Hon Ume Ezeoke, as Speaker of the House of Representatives in the Second Republic under the auspices of the accord between the NPN and the NPP, no Igbo man has occupied the position of Speaker.
“The second is that since the 4th Republic, Ndigbo again are the only major ethnic group that are yet to produce one of their own as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“So, you can imagine that in 24 years of our democratic experiment, three zones being the Northwest, Northeast and Southwest and two major ethnic groups, the Hausa/Fulani and the Yoruba have occupied the positions of Speaker except Ndigbo.
“The third fact is that true Nigerians must be desirous of seeking to reintegrate Ndigbo into the mainstream politics of the nation.”
Igboeli also urged Ndigbo to present their best for the position, stressing that “we must present only our best not only for purposes of acceptability but for strategic reasons.
“The APC as a party must move towards the reunification of Nigeria by seeking to reintegrate the Southeast region.
“But to do so, Ndigbo must deploy their best hands; people who will not only seek power for themselves but will seek to serve the people and then present the APC as the beautiful bride to Ndigbo.
“The fourth and the most important is that Ndigbo must move with the times and trends of today’s politics by entrenching new faces, faces devoid of the many baggages, blemishes and scars of our past politics.”
The group pleaded with Ndigbo to present Hon. Benjamin Kalu from Abia State as a consensus candidate, noting that the lawmaker had distinguished himself in his duty as the Reps spokesperson.
Kalu is the lawmaker representing Bende Federal Constituency.
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