10th Assembly: Umahi insists NASS leadership zoning must not be ignored

Dave Umahi, the Governor of Ebonyi State, has reiterated the importance of the zoning principle for selecting leaders to occupy positions in the 10th National Assembly.

Speaking shortly after a closed doors meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, Umahi emphasised that this is the only way to ensure fairness and equality among the various geo-political regions.

In his words: “I’m a party man and very committed to decent process, the party and, of course, the President-elect directed that we shouldn’t talk about that yet, we should all go back and work for gubernatorial and State House of Assembly elections and I want to obey that directive not to talk about it.

“But I believe strongly that zoning must be done by the party, the party should not allow everybody to jump into the race and then in doing zoning, when the time comes, they must look at all the parameters so that we can carry all the regions along, this is very important.

“But I won’t want to say further because the party directed that we shouldn’t talk about it until we have done our elections. Just be assured that APC is getting very strong in the Southeast.”

What you should know: The Ebonyi State Governor, Umahi, secured his next appointment after being declared the senator-elect for Ebonyi South senatorial district from the February 25 elections.

Umahi, who recently switched from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in preparation for the upcoming gubernatorial elections on Saturday, March 18, 2023, is reportedly vying for a leadership role in the chamber.

There have also been calls for the senate leadership to be vested in Orji-Uzo Kalu. READ MORE