10th NASS: APC National Vice Chair Accuses Adamu Of Working Against Party’s Zoning

As the crisis over the leadership of the 10th National Assembly festers, national vice chairman (North-West) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Salihu Moh’d Lukman, has accused the party’s national chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, of working against the party’s zoning arrangement.

According to him, the leadership of the governing party was subtly working against the zoning arrangement recently adopted, with Adamu operating as a factional leader.

The party’s leadership had endorsed former minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godwill Akpabio, as Senate President and Tajudeen Abbas as Speaker of House of Representatives for the 10th National Assembly.

The party also endorsed Senator Barau Jubrin (North-West) as deputy Senate president and Ben Kalu (South-East) as deputy Speaker of the House.

But last week, Adamu had curiously warned party members and some lawmakers to stop addressing Abbas as the incoming Speaker of the House until he wins the election, saying consultations with other aspirants and other legislative stakeholders were still in progress.

In a statement he issued on Wednesday, the APC national vice chairman alleged that Adamu was strongly opposed to the zoning formula announced by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) after getting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s nod.

Lukman strongly said Adamu and some other party leaders were working to actualise a replay of the 2015 debacle by making sure that another rebellious leadership emerge in the 10th National Assembly through their consistent ‘hardcore ethnic Northern arguments.’

In the statement titled, “APC and Transition Politics”, Lukman stated: “The same conservative bloc is now spewing up hardcore ethnic Northern arguments against the zoning decisions approved by the NWC following the outcome of consultations between Sen. Abdullahi Adamu-led NWC team with President Tinubu. As if those consultations were not designed to produce agreements, once the NWC approved the recommendation for zoning the leadership of the 10th National Assembly.

“Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, instead of acting as the National Chairman, facilitating implementation of decisions of organs of the party, is acting as a factional leader opposing the decision of the NWC. Instead of working for the success of the decision of the NWC through activating meetings of higher organs of the party to confer more legitimacy to the decision of the NWC, he seems to be more interested in ensuring that the 2015 model of rebellious leadership emerge in the 10th National Assembly.”

The former director-general of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) warned that the governing APC was ‘choking’ under Adamu and the national secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore, whom he said have blocked all party organs, apart from NWC, from meeting.

Lukman added that after blocking other party organs, Adamu and Omisore are now spoon-feeding the NWC members “with convenient information.”

He continued: “When APC and Asiwaju won the 2023 elections, the structures of the party were blocked from functioning to allow for wider internal democratic consultations, debates and contestations using the legitimate structures provided in the constitution of the party to facilitate internal negotiations to zone leadership of the 10th National Assembly.

“Practically, in a manner that is nothing more than suspending the constitution of the party, the National Chairman, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, supported by the National Secretary, Sen. Iyiola Omisore have blocked all organs of the party from meeting, except the NWC. In the case of the NWC, it is more a case of spoon-feeding members with convenient information. And where challenged as was the case with the court case aimed at restoring constitutional order in the party, the National Legal Adviser, Barr. Ahmed El-Marzuq become handy with spurious legal interpretations, which are anything but legal, bereft of any logic.”