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As the race for the leadership of the 10th National Assembly gets closer, a group, Igbo Mandate Movement Group, has called in the ruling All Progressives Congress to zone the Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives under the 10th Assembly to the South-East.
This was made known via a press conference which was held in Enugu on Tuesday.
The coordinator, Mr. Igboeli Napoleon, while addressing attendees and members of the press, gave reasons why the APC ought to zone the seat to the South-East region.
Igboeli noted that following the election of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Senator Kashim Shettima as President and Vice President-elects, it was incumbent on the Ndigbo as one of the nation’s major ethnic groups to begin its own search for its path to the centre.
He stated that only four zones could equitably lobby for positions within the National Assembly and it would be common sense politics to zone these positions to these regions to ensure regional balancing as well as fairness and equity.
Igboeli stated that the decision to canvass the Office of the Speaker to the South-East was based on a number of things.
He said, “The first of such is based on the historical fact that since the emergence of Rt. Hon Edwin Ume Ezeoke as Speaker of the House of Representatives in the Second Republic, no Igbo man has occupied the position of Speaker.
“The second is that under the Fourth Republic, Ndigbo again are the only major ethnic group that is yet to produce one of their own as Speaker of the House of Representatives.”
He said the APC as a party must move towards the reunification of Nigeria by seeking to reintegrate the South-East region, but to do so, it must deploy its best hands – people who would not only seek power for themselves but also would seek to serve the people and then present the APC as the beautiful bride to Ndigbo.
Igboeli further stated that the IMMG had resolved to endorse the ambition of Benjamin Kalu to become Speaker, basing its choice on Kalu’s unwavering commitment to the ideals of Igbo and Nigerian progress.
