Why North Central merits Speakership of 10th NASS – Plateau Rep

Rep. Yusuf Gagdi (APC-Plateau) says the North Central deserves to be rewarded with the Speakership of the 10th National Assembly.

Gagdi said this when he spoke with newsmen in Abuja, saying that the North Central gave its best to the APC in the 2023 general elections as the party came second with the number of votes it gave to the APC.

He said that the performance of the APC in the North Central saw the party produce 11 senators, ahead of the North West, which produced 10 senators.

Gagdi added that if the North Central had given such a quantum of support to the APC in the election, it would have been fair to zone the speakership to the subregion.

He said it was unfair for the APC to have zoned two elective positions to the North West.

“By now the message should have been very clear to the party that no reasonable Nigeria is comfortable having six geopolitical zones, with one getting two elective posts out of six.

“Nigeria has six statutory positions: the President, the Vice President, the Senate President, the Deputy Senate President, the Speaker, and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives,’’ he said.

He said instead of sharing one with each zone, the party domiciled the two in one zone.

“And some are telling us the North Central has the position of chairman of the party, and we should have the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

“This is not fair to us. The party chairman has limited powers, so that cannot be counted.

“Up until today, I don’t believe that the President-elect is aware of the consensus arrangement or whether it is his own idea; no, that is why we keep challenging the decision of the party.

“Because it is the party that issued the directive, the man has promised that he would reward loyalty and commitment,” he said.