Jonathan, PDP fault Reps-elect on zoning

The Peoples Democratic Party on Monday talked tough as it warned its members-elect in the House of Representatives that they lacked the powers to change its power-sharing arrangement.
It, therefore, said the zoning arrangement put together by the leadership of the party, in conjunction with the Presidency, must be respected by the members of the House and the Senate.
The National Legal Adviser of the PDP, Chief Olusola Oke, who gave the party’s position in a telephone interview with our correspondent, said the party’s position on zoning stands.
The clarification came on the heels of the determination by members of the House to alter the zoning arrangement put in place by the party.
It will be recalled that the PDP is insisting that the North-Central, where the incumbent Senate President, Sen. David Mark hails from, is still going to fill the position in the new dispensation.
The South-West, where the incumbent Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, comes from, is also going to present his replacement.
Though Mark was able to win his re-election back to the Senate, Bankole from Ogun State, however, lost his re-election bid as he was defeated by the candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria during the National Assembly election. Only six members of the party are returning from the zone.
Investigations by our correspondent showed that while there were no serious challengers to Mark’s ambition, the same could not be said of the office of the Speakership, which was zoned to the South-West.
Some lawmakers, especially from the South-East and North-West, are particularly irked that the South-West could be asked to produce the Speaker when the PDP did not do well in the zone during the election into the National Assembly.
But Oke said, “The PDP zoning stands. We have not altered it and we have no intention to do so.”
Investigations by our correspondent also showed that President, Goodluck Jonathan agreed with the leadership of the party that the zoning must remain irrevocable.
At the meeting the members of the National Working Committee of the party had with the President at the presidential Villa on Monday night, a source who attended the meeting said members were in agreement that the party’s decision must be respected.
The source said, “The President agreed that no member of the party must do anything outside what the party had agreed to, after all, the elected officials were elected on the ticket of the party.
“He, therefore, said since the party had taken a decision, such decision must be respected.”
By Niyi Odebode, Olusola Fabiyi and John Ameh                  Courtesy Of: Punch