The All Progressives Congress has zoned the Senate Presidency to the South South geopolitical zone and adopted a former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, as a consensus candidate for the office.
The endorsement may have put an end to the ambitions of Senator Orji Kalu from Abia State and Ebonyi State Senator-elect, Dave Umahi both from the Southeast. Umahi earlier on Monday announced he was stepping down for Akpabio after an intervention from President-elect Bola Tinubu.
A few days earlier, Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, had also said Akpabio was the preferred candidate of the party for the office of Senate President. Ganduje spoke when his counterpart from Cross River, Ben Ayade, paid him a visit in Kano.
The position of the APC on the zoning, made known in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka on Monday, formalised Akpabio’s endorsement by the party hierarchy.
The party’s zoning arrangement for the principal offices of Nigeria’s 10th National Assembly was endorsed at its National Working Committee’s marathon meeting in Abuja.
According to Morka, the position of the Deputy Senate President has been zoned to the Northwest with Senator Barau Jibrin from Kano state announced as the preferred consensus candidate. The party has also zoned the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives to the Northwest with Tajudeen Abass from Kaduna State announced as the preferred consensus candidate.
The position of Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives has been zoned to the Southeast region with Honourable Benjamin Kalu from Abia State as the preferred consensus candidate of the party.
