Disquiet in House of Reps over APC zoning

There is disquiet in the House of Representatives over the purported zoning of offices by the leadership of the All  Progressives Congress (APC), with some of the party’s  lawmakers threatening to go against its directives on the issue.
This is as the  Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) caucus in the House has vowed to use its number to resist imposition of a speaker on the House. It insisted that anybody who will emerge the speaker must possess the quality of the outgoing speaker, Aminu Tambuwal and must enjoy the support of majority of House members irrespective of party affiliation.

APC was reported to have zoned the speaker and deputy  speaker seats to South West and North East. But the party on Monday issued a statement denying the claim, saying it was yet to zone offices.
However, on Tuesday, some lawmakers from the North West and North East met and said they would reject any zoning arrangement that did not take into account the feelings of all the geo-political zones.
“Yes, we are following what is happening in our party, we are ready to abide by the decision of the party . But we will do that if the decision is just and accommodating,” one of the lawmakers, who pleaded for anonymity told Expdonaloaded.blogspot.com
He continued: “ If the party thinks it can force its preference on us, I’m afraid we may adopt the 2011 option and elect the best among us irrespective of the zone he comes from.”
At the moment, six lawmakers have announced plans to contest the speakership position. They are Jibrin Abdulmumuni (APC, Kano), Femi Gbajabiamila (APC, Lagos), Yakubu Dogara (APC, Bauchi), Mohammed Monguno (APC, Borno) and Ajibola Famurewa Isreal (APC, Osun).
Some lawmakers from the Northwest had earlier endorsed Abdulmumuni .
Meanwhile , PDP caucus in the House told expdonaloaded.blogspot.com that it will use its one third population to sway the outcome of the election for speaker in June.
An influential member of the caucus who does not want his name mentioned said the party was working with its governors to ensure that the party’s lawmakers deliver a block vote to a candidate that will protect its interest.
“We are working on using our votes to determine who emerges the next speaker . We don’t care who the APC is rooting for but I can assure you that we will thwart any move to impose a speaker on us. We will give a block vote to that person we feel will protect our interest despite his membership of APC. The current speaker is in APC but he is carrying everybody along .”
He laughed off claims that PDP was finished arguing “ how can PDP be finished when it has over 130 members which is one third of the population of the House. We will show our strength during the election of our Speaker”.
Asked if the caucus has anybody in mind , he said “ I may not tell you now but I know those we will resist with the last pint of our blood. I must tell you that some of us don’t have problem with the likes of Abdulmumuni because he has done well as Chairman Finance Committee . We still regard him as one of us in PDP even though he defected to APC where he won reelection . “
“What I can tell you is that ,bat the end of the day , every member , whether PDP or APC or Labour may vote according to his conscience . From what I am seeing the zoning APC is talking about may collapse . We are praying for that “.