For the sake of fairness and equity, a coalition of civil society organisations has urged the All Progressives Congress to consider yielding the speakership of the 10th House of Representatives to the Southeast.
Dominic Ogakwu, National Convener of Civil Society for Good Governance, identified several attributes of zone candidates that will set them apart if the zoning demand is met.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Friday, Ogakwu called on the APC to zone the Office of Speaker to the South East because the region has the potential to occupy the office.
According to Ogakwu: ”As members of civil society, we hold the view without equivocation that equity and fairness demand that the South East should produce the next Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“There is a sense of alienation and marginalization amongst the people of the zone by the APC, which though we do not share, but agree as a legitimate concern. As a country that just emerged from an electoral process that is benighted by divisive tendencies, history beckons on the ruling party to demonstrate that is inclusive, equitable and responsive to all parts of the country, particularly the South East.
“As a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious country, it is urgent and imperative that the APC promotes the tenets of Federal Character by zoning the Speakership to the South East and strengthening the cords of unity and peaceful co-existence amongst our peoples.”
The coalition noted that records have shown that since the return of democratic rule in 1999, the Southeast is the only zone yet to produce a speaker, adding that the nearest the zone has come is Deputy Speaker between 2011 and 2015.
