The All Progressives Congress (APC) House of Representatives members-elect from the North West zone have pledged to abide by the decision of the ruling party on the selection of the new Speaker and other principal officers of the House ahead of June 9 National Assembly inauguration.

The members made the announcement shortly after a closed-door meeting in Kaduna state, where the leader of the 54 newly elected APC members, Ibrahim Aliyu, who briefed journalists, said that as loyal and dedicated party members, they have no objections to the party’s position on the selection of the House leadership.

He explained that the decision to stand by the APC leadership is to ensure a rancour-free process and also avert a situation whereby the opposition will hijack the leadership of the house as witnessed in 2015.

“The North-West new members have endorsed the formation of the ‘North West new member’s forum’. We have agreed to work as one in accordance with the national leadership of the party and our zonal leaders.”

The new lawmakers also endorsed the immediate past Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Kawu Sumaila as their consensus candidate for any leadership position in the House of Representatives that will be zoned to the North West zone.

They said their decision on Sumaila is based on his long year’s legislative experience which will be of great benefit to the entire National Assembly.

“The forum endorses and aligns with the position of the party in the leadership structure of the ninth assembly. The Forum has endorsed Kawu Sumaila for any leadership position zoned to the North West”.

Meanwhile, Sumaila welcomed the endorsement by his colleagues and said that with the numerical strength in the ninth National Assembly, the APC cannot afford to lose the leadership position to opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as witnessed during the Eight National Assembly.

“I am fully ready to accept any position zoned to our region. We are waiting for the party to come up with a zoning formula. From our understanding, six positions are available; four belongs to the House of Reps, while two belongs to the Senate.

“I know that our party is a national party and we must take cognisance of our Federal character in all what we are doing.”

•Sourced from a Channels TV report

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