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10th NASS Speakership: Don’t Expect Us To Be Loyal If Your Preferred Choice Stands – G7 Tells APC

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Following the zoning arrangement for National Assembly leadership positions released on Monday by the National Working Committee, NWC, of the All Progressives Congress, APC, seven aspirants for the Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives have come together under the G7 platform to reject the declaration.

The members of the G7 group are Deputy Speaker of the House, Hon Ahmed Idris Wase; Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, Hon. Mukhtar Aliyu Betara, Hon. Sada Soli. Hon. Aminu Sani Jaji. Hon. Mariam Onuoha and House of Representatives Majority Leader, Hon. Al Hassan Doguwa.

The G7 lawmakers, during a meeting with the APC NWC members in Abuja on Wednesday, described the zoning arrangement as unfair, unjust and inequitable and threatened to oppose any attempts by outside forces to impose a leadership on the 10th House of Representatives.

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Hon. Mukhtar Aliyu Betara, while addressing the APC Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, said, “I supported every member of APC and some of our leaders contesting for elections when we were going in for the election. I was shocked when I heard that I did anti-party. My unit is in Biu my result is in INEC. You can request my result for my unit if anti-party it going to show.

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“Another thing I need to clear here, sir, i was told that the same group are saying I gave monies to a presidential aspirant. So if there is any transfer to anybody, the banks are there. I want to still tell you as leaders if I should give money to a presidential aspirant and he wins, what is he going to give me? On my own, I want to become speaker in my party. If another party wins, can I become speaker? No. So we don’t need to blackmail ourselves. Politics is about give and take.

“Our colleagues here can testify, I have done well for the National Assembly when I was Chairman of the Army, Chairman of Defence and now Appropriations. Sir, I have 38 members, including my deputy chairman of the Appropriations Committee and me, but for me to stabilise the House, I co-opted 100 members to my committee just for me to stabilise the House for Femi. But today, we are aspiring for the speakership, the deputy speaker, the House leader, myself, Gagdi, Miriam, Sada, etc.

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“We are not against our leaders, but if we should sit down and say sit amongst yourselves and pick somebody you think you can work with, it is easy, but the person the speaker is trying to even pick there are some of our colleagues that don’t know him. That’s the truth, I am not lying. If today the party said we zoned to the north west, I have to sit and think because now the party is zoning the deputy senate president and the speaker to the same zone. We have been in this Assembly. There is no time that two presiding officers are zoned to one area. It has never happened.”

Also, Speaking Hon. Gagdi emphasised that the proposed arrangement by the NWC was wrong, stating that ”the party should not hope that our loyalty will be guaranteed at the detriment of justice, peace and fairness. We will respect justice, unity and equity in the chamber, but only if your instruction is in line with the principle of this party. Do not hope that we have come here to succumb to any instruction and directive given to us.’’

‘’Do we want unity, to say that the Deputy Senate President should go to North West and the Speaker should go to North West when in the true sense of the word, sir, in the presidential election, North-Central known to have majority number of Christians, with utmost apologies let me say this, and the religious and tribal affiliations attributed to 2023 elections, yet North Central resisted the temptation, delivered four states to the President-elect, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu; delivered 11 senators.

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READ ALSO: PDP Govs Forum To Honour Wike, Makinde, Ortom, Others

“The North-west delivered 10 with two states and North-east 1 State with ten senators, and the zone that has performed like this for Mr President will be relegated to have party chairman and perhaps, as they insinuate, Secretary to the Government of the Federation; positions that the president or whosoever can scream at them and they have no locus to speak for the people of North-central. We need fairness. We need justice.”

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INEC Disowns LP’s National Convention

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The Independent National Electoral Commission has disowned Wednesday’s Labour Party‘s national convention held in Anambra.

The Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, said this in Abuja on Thursday.

Oyekanmi said that the conduct of the convention was not monitored by INEC, declining to state further why it was not monitored.

The LP had on Tuesday shifted the national convention from Umuahia in Abia to Nnewi, Anambra State.

Speaking on the venue change, the LP National Legal Adviser, Mr Kehinde Edun, told newsmen that the party had duly informed INEC about the change in venue and date.

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READ ALSO: [BREAKING] Edo Guber: Labour Party Aspirant Withdraws From Race, Cites Monetisation 

No, it is holding in Anambra. Nnewi, to be precise, not Umuahia in Abia State again. In fact, Umuahia was not even the first venue we chose. Benin was the first choice before we changed to Umuahia and now Nnewi.

“So, we are at liberty to pick any venue of our choice. We only need to inform INEC about the change in venue and the time,” Edun said.

Section 82(1) of the Electoral Act, 2022 states that political parties shall give INEC at least 21 days’ notice of convention, congress, conference or meeting.

This includes the convention or meeting convened for “merger” and electing members of its executive committees and other governing bodies or nominating candidates.

(NAN)

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Labour Party Reserves 2027 Presidential Ticket For Peter Obi

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…Oti Gets automatic ticket for Abia Guber

The Labour Party’s highest decision making body, the National Convention, has announced it has reserved its 2027 ticket for the party’s leader, Mr. Peter Obi.

In the same breath, the party also announced a right of first refusal for the Abia State Governor, Alex Oti, should he decide to seek reelection on the party’s platform.

This decision was contained in a Communique issued after the party’s National Convention, held in Nnewi, Anambra State, on Wednesday.

It was signed by the re-elected National Chairman of the party, Comrade Julius Abure, and National Secretary, Umar Faruk Ibrahim.

READ ALSO: Abure Re-elected Labour Party National Chairman; NLC Kicks

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The communique read in part: “The Convention in session based on the antecedents of the Presidential candidate before, during and after the 2023 General Election recommend that the 2027 Presidential ticket of the party be solely reserved for His Excellency, Mr. Peter Gregory Obi, the National leader of the party.

“Furthermore, the Convention in session reviewed ongoing development and performance of its Governor in Abia state, His Excellency, Dr. Alex Otti and pass a vote of confidence on him and recommend the 2027 Abia state Gubernatorial ticket of the party be reserved for His Excellency, Dr. Alex Otti.”

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Edo Guber: 17 Parties Beat INEC Deadline For Candidates’ Nomination

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Seventeen out of 18 political parties who conducted primaries for the forthcoming Edo State Governorship Election have beaten the deadline for the nomination of their candidates on the special portal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

INEC National Commissioner in charge of Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, disclosed this in a statement issued Tuesday in Abuja.

He said, “Following the conclusion of party primaries, 27 political parties have uploaded their candidates’ nomination forms for the Edo State Governorship Election by the deadline of 6 p.m. on March 24, 2024, when the dedicated portal automatically shut down.”

According to him, the personal particulars of the governorship candidates and their running mates will be published on Saturday, March 30, 2024, a week from the last date for the submission of nominations as provided in Section 29(3) of the Electoral Act 2022.

READ ALSO: Edo 2024: Igbinedion Breaks Silence On Obaseki’s Handling Of PDP, Party’s Choice Of Running Mate

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The Commission shall publish the personal particulars by displaying copies of Form EC9 along with all academic credentials and other documents submitted by each candidate at the state headquarters and the 18 local government offices across Edo State.

“We appeal to Nigerians to scrutinise the documents. Any aspirant who participated in his/her party primaries with reasonable grounds to believe that the information provided by the candidate is false can challenge the nomination in a Federal High Court as provided in Section 29(5) of the Electoral Act 2022.

“The Edo State Governorship Election is scheduled to hold on Saturday, September 21, 2024,” he stated.

 

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