Ex-Niger Delta militants, who belong to the Niger Delta Ethnic Nationalities Youth Leaders Movement (NDENYLM), on Tuesday, appealed to the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to consider the sons of the region in the APC in ceding the speakership of the House of Representatives to the South-South.
They specifically said the commitment and doggedness of Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State and Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, to the party should be rewarded in ceding the position as a way of compensation to the zone.
The group asserted that the people of the South-South had anointed the member representing Owan Federal Constituency of Edo State in the House of Representatives, Mr Pally Iriase, for the position. The group, therefore, declared that ceding the position to the zone would not only boost the chances of the APC in future elections in the oil-rich zone, but, as well, serve as compensation to the zone having lost the presidency to the North.
This was contained in a communique issued shortly after a meeting of the group, signed by its National Secretary, Abamojie Soboma Ajudua, in Benin City.
In a communique the group said: “We have been following the on-going discussions and high wired-politics over the geo-political zones that are best suited for the Senate Presidency and the House of Representatives Speakership. It has become expedient for us to echo the resolve of our region regarding the Speakership of the House of Representatives in favour of Hon. Pally Iriase, the member representing Owan Federal constituency of Edo State.
“Our disposition to non-violence has been informed by a need to sustain the new wave of peace and hospitality.
“As a country that strives towards equity and justice, in the dispensation of ethnic nationalities’ relations,” the group said, “it will be reasonable to reward President Jonathan’s humane disposition to the North throughout his tenure where the North held the most resounding key positions (Vice President, Senate President, House of Reps Speaker, Chief Justice of Nigeria, and Minister of Defence etc.).
“In view of the strategic position of our, with respect to the national economy, where we ‘lay the golden egg’, it is only fair to consider one of our sons for such position. The leadership of the All Progressives Congress should dispassionately examine our supplication for the speakership slot in the interest of peaceful co-existence and dispensation of justice to our region.
“Apart from that, in the interest of equity and justice considering the fact that two of our sons, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state and Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, sacrificed everything to ensure the victory of the APC at the centre, despite the intimidations, threats and humiliation they suffered in the hands of the PDP operatives and their god-fathers here in the South-South.
