The Vice-President-elect, Kashim Shettima, has implored contending Lawmakers-elect to accept the zoning arrangement for the leadership of the 10th National Assembly by the All Progressives Congress.
Shettima said this during a meeting with some of the House of Representatives members-elect on Friday, according to a report by The Cable.
Controversies have recently trailed the selection process of the leadership of the 10th NASS within the APC.
The controversies increased further after the party nominated a former minister of Niger Delta affairs, Godswill Akpabio and a house of representatives member from Kaduna, Abbas Tajudeen, for the national assembly leadership positions.
Akpabio was nominated for the Senate Presidency while, Tajudeen was endorsed for the speaker of the House of Representatives.
The party also nominated the senator representing Kano north, Barau Jibrin, as deputy senate president, and a lawmaker from Abia and current house spokesperson, Benjamin Kalu, as deputy speaker.
The nominations have been faulted by lawmakers within and outside the party.
Shettima, however, said APC is seeking to avoid a situation where all the top officials of the incoming administration would be of the same faith.
According to him, if the party produces NASS leaders of same Islamic faith, it could “validate the negative narrative of the Islamisation agenda of Nigeria”.
Shettima added that the leadership of the forthcoming national assembly must be inclusive because the “stability of the nation is much more important than any other consideration”.
He stated, “What we are trying to avoid is a situation whereby the number one citizen, number two citizen, the number three citizen, and the number four citizen are all of the same faith. That will lend credence, and validate the negative narrative of the Islamisation agenda of Nigeria.
“This is why my principal, a fair-minded leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is more inclined towards having the number three citizen from the South/south or the south-east. Even in the current circumstance that we find ourselves in, the stability of the nation is much more important than any other consideration.
“All other considerations have to be relegated to the background because we are talking about the stability of the nation.
“We are talking about inclusivity, we are talking about togetherness because nation-building is a continuous work in progress and politics is about perception, it is about optics. I am quite glad that Benjamin Kalu will emerge as the deputy speaker. The hope for the black man rests with the people of this country.”
