NASS management: No decision yet on zoning – APC
The national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged its elected members of the National Assembly (NASS) to downplay the zoning and leadership issues of the 10th Assembly.
Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Ali Ndume (APC Borno-Sud), spoke with State House correspondents Monday after the APC leadership's meeting with elected state lawmakers House Banquet Hall, Abuja.< /p>
The meeting was chaired by Vice President-elect Kashim Shettima.
The duo said the party leadership urged elected lawmakers to focus on the upcoming gubernatorial elections.
Mr. Gbajabiamila said the meeting was aimed at bringing together the elected members of the National Assembly to celebrate the party's victory.
He said the purpose of the meeting was to assure members that despite all the obstacles against the party, he was able to overcome.
"On the zoning issue, yes, we've talked about it; it's not here or there yet; we have another election coming up this weekend and we want to make sure everyone goes home , roll up your sleeves.
"It's not yet hooray; We're not there yet; we must complete the victory and our joy before we talk about the National Assembly; and that's essentially what it was about" , he said.
He said the absence of the president-elect from the meeting did not affect the outcome.
According to him, the question of zoning should be put on hold until the end of the elections.
He explained why he was not available to collect his return certificate from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on March 7
"All I heard was that I hadn't been here last week to pick up my certificate and because of that someone assumed it had to be because I was didn't care or something about the chief of staff.
"It will interest you that I was in Lagos; I could not leave Lagos as I was campaigning for my party.
"It will also interest you more that I wasn't here four years ago to pick up my certificate because I couldn't do it; I didn't think it was anything important.
"I'll get my certificate today or tomorrow," he said.
For his part, Mr. Ndume said the meeting was to assess the performance of the party and go home and complete the victory.
He said that Nigerians had spoken and elected the APC, adding that there would be usual ups and downs in every electoral process.
“And the party, as also expected, called on the elected members of the National Assembly to minimize the problems of leadership and to concentrate so that we fight the electoral battle until the end; and that's to make sure we win our states; and that's exactly what we do.
“The party has already strengthened us and we agreed that interactions like this should be frequent so that we go in the same direction instead of having problems by the experience of 2015 and 2019 in a certain measure.
“The question of zoning has not been raised; the president-elect is a parliamentarian; he has more experience than most of us and, coincidentally, the Nigerian government is going to be the National Ass. ...
The national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged its elected members of the National Assembly (NASS) to downplay the zoning and leadership issues of the 10th Assembly.
Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Ali Ndume (APC Borno-Sud), spoke with State House correspondents Monday after the APC leadership's meeting with elected state lawmakers House Banquet Hall, Abuja.< /p>
The meeting was chaired by Vice President-elect Kashim Shettima.
The duo said the party leadership urged elected lawmakers to focus on the upcoming gubernatorial elections.
Mr. Gbajabiamila said the meeting was aimed at bringing together the elected members of the National Assembly to celebrate the party's victory.
He said the purpose of the meeting was to assure members that despite all the obstacles against the party, he was able to overcome.
"On the zoning issue, yes, we've talked about it; it's not here or there yet; we have another election coming up this weekend and we want to make sure everyone goes home , roll up your sleeves.
"It's not yet hooray; We're not there yet; we must complete the victory and our joy before we talk about the National Assembly; and that's essentially what it was about" , he said.
He said the absence of the president-elect from the meeting did not affect the outcome.
According to him, the question of zoning should be put on hold until the end of the elections.
He explained why he was not available to collect his return certificate from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on March 7
"All I heard was that I hadn't been here last week to pick up my certificate and because of that someone assumed it had to be because I was didn't care or something about the chief of staff.
"It will interest you that I was in Lagos; I could not leave Lagos as I was campaigning for my party.
"It will also interest you more that I wasn't here four years ago to pick up my certificate because I couldn't do it; I didn't think it was anything important.
"I'll get my certificate today or tomorrow," he said.
For his part, Mr. Ndume said the meeting was to assess the performance of the party and go home and complete the victory.
He said that Nigerians had spoken and elected the APC, adding that there would be usual ups and downs in every electoral process.
“And the party, as also expected, called on the elected members of the National Assembly to minimize the problems of leadership and to concentrate so that we fight the electoral battle until the end; and that's to make sure we win our states; and that's exactly what we do.
“The party has already strengthened us and we agreed that interactions like this should be frequent so that we go in the same direction instead of having problems by the experience of 2015 and 2019 in a certain measure.
“The question of zoning has not been raised; the president-elect is a parliamentarian; he has more experience than most of us and, coincidentally, the Nigerian government is going to be the National Ass. ...
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