As the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, meets with lawmakers elected on its platform, calls for the resignation of the National Chairman of the party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, continue.
The APC is expected on Monday to meet with its lawmakers-elect in Abuja alongside the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his vice, Senator Kashim Shettima.
The meeting is to decide on the leadership of the 10th assembly and avoid in-fighting in the selection of eventual leaders of the National Assembly.
In another development, a coalition of civil society organisations, Conference of Nigeria Civil Rights Activists, has called on the Adamu, to heed to calls for his resignation in the interest of equity, fairness and justice.
The CNCRA said Adamu’s exit as APC National Chairman would ensure power balancing in the incoming Bola Tinubu’s All Progressives Congress-led government.
In a statement signed by its convener, Ifeanyi Odili, and secretary, Sina Akadiri, made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Sunday, they argued that Adamu’s resignation would also be a great opportunity for the APC to assuage the feelings of Christians towards the same faith arrangement of the party in the recently concluded presidential election.
The CNCRA urged that the national chairman should leave the stage honourably in a bid to balance the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the party.
Before Sunday’s call, the National Vice-President of the APC, Salihu Lukman, had in a statement titled “APC Internal Dynamics and the Future of Democracy,” issued at the weekend, stressed that the National Chairman of the party must resign to give way to a Christian leader.
The CNCRA said “Adamu should toe the path of honour and statesmanship by tendering his letter of resignation after the Governorship and House Assembly elections.
“His action would be welcomed and commended by the Christians and it will also pave the way for the emergence of a ranking senator from North Central, to become either the President or Deputy President of the Senate in the forthcoming 10th National Assembly.”
The CNCRA said it acknowledged the immense contributions of Adamu and the North Central geopolitical zone towards the just concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections.
It noted that the ruling APC should compensate the region by making sure that a dependable, loyal and ranking senator emerges as either the president or deputy senate president in the 10th National Assembly.
They noted that “with the emergence of the president-elect and his vice from the South West and North-East geopolitical zones of Nigeria, it will be fair and just, for the APC to zone the National Assembly’s presiding officers’ positions to the North-Central, North-West, South-East and the South-South geopolitical zones.
“In terms of marginalisation, the popular opinion in Nigeria is that the South-East and the North-Central have not produced either the nation’s president or vice president since the return of democracy in 1999.”
The statement further noted that the South-West produced the president between 1999 and 2007 with a North-Easterner as vice president.
They said, “It is now clear that the race for the position of the senate presidency should be between the North Central and the South East which has never produced either the president or vice president.
“We, therefore, urge the National Chairman of the APC, Senator Adamu Abdullahi, to step aside as a man of honour, and lead the campaign for the emergence of a presiding officer of the Senate from the North Central.”
The CNCRA added that it would appreciate it if Senator Abdullahi Adamu would demonstrate statesmanship by offering to resign his appointment to maintain his highly respected honour and integrity.
