‘South East must produce Reps Speaker’

Representative of Ideato South/North Federal constituency in Imo State, Austin Chukwukere, has said equity and fairness demand that the South East should produce the next Speaker of the House of Representatives.

He told The Guardian in Owerri yesterday that the All Progressives Congress (APC) should respect the federal character and support a balanced power sharing formula in the country. The issue of the zone that would produce the Speaker of the Ninth House of Representatives has continued to generate heat, especially among lawmakers from the South East zone.

This also followed claims that APC leadership had endorsed Femi Gbajabiamila from the South West for the position. It was also gathered that the APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, had allegedly ordered all party lawmakers to support Gbajabiamila. Chukwukere said: “I championed the campaign against marginalisation of the South East in the nation’s polity and I still maintain that there is the need for us to balance power sharing in Nigeria. “We must be seen to respect and uphold the federal character, which is enshrined in our constitution.”