The lingering crisis over the zoning of the Principal Offices in the House of Representatives refused to abate Wednesday, as loyalists of Speaker Yakubu Dogara insisted that nobody from the South-West and North-East geopolitical zones would take any of the four seats reserved for the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The group after a meeting with former Speaker , now Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, expressed readiness to concede  the seat of the House Leader to the Femi Gbajabiamila group, provided that the occupier of the seat is not from either South West or North East

The Dogara group however said if the conditions set are not acceptable to the Gbajabiamila group, the issue should be decided through a vote at the meeting of the APC caucus in the House, where final decisions would be taken by party members on which zone gets what.

In a swift reaction, Rufai Chachangi, spokesman of Gbajabiamila’s Loyalist Group, insisted that the stance of the caucus to have Gbajabiamila as the Majority leader is ‘non-negotiable.’

He expressed his group’s readiness to go into the much desired election at the APC caucus level as now agreed to by the Dogara group.

Abdulmumin Jibrin, spokesman of the Dogara’s caucus at a press briefing, also on Wednesday, disclosed that the group took the decision after its meeting with Tambuwal on Tuesday night as directed by the APC Governors Forum.

He also insisted that since the Speaker and his Deputy have emerged from North East and South-west respectively, fairness and justice demand that the two zones should not partake any more in the sharing of the four remaining seats in the House meant for the ruling party.

While urging Gbajabiamila’s caucus to put national interest above personal interest by accepting the concession, Jibrin had noted that the choice of the four principal officers would be subjected to open elections if the Loyalist Group fails to accept the offer.

His words: “the Governor of Sokoto State met with Femi Gbajabiamila and his group, yesterday. He met with us also and we also had a lengthy meeting, at some point heated.  We wish to express our appreciation to Mr. Speaker for tolerating all our actions at the meeting to be able to stand firm.

“Concessions were made completely against the original plan that we went to the meeting with. This morning we received lots of phone calls, under normal circumstances we are not supposed to make a public statement on this, to all the process to be consolidated.

“We went to the meeting and you have always known our position, we believe that we did not go against any provisions of the laws of the party or the provisions of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria electing the speaker or his deputy.

“We also believe that there should be a level playing ground for everyone in terms of the occupation of the remaining offices of principal officers that has always been our position.

“But after a very lengthy meeting with His Execellency, the immediate past speaker and governor of Sokoto state, we were able to make a far reaching concession and this is to allow for peace to reign in the house.

“It was very tough and of course the wise counsel of Governor of Sokoto on the need for a concession on peace. The principal officers of the House must be in tandem with principle of equity and Federal Character as prescribed by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“The sixth position that Is usually occupied by the majority, the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, House Leader Deputy Douse leader, the whip and Deputy Whip must go to the six geo – political zones or otherwise it must reflect the principal of equity and fairness and to that end after the deliberation, we have agreed to concede the position of the House leader to the Femi’s group and we took this decision bearing in mind that we need peace in this house and we want to get down to work.

“The year has gone half way already and we should be busy with the review of 2015 budget on how far budget has been implemented. We have work to do and we cannot continue to waste more time talking about positions. We expect the Femi group to accept this concession so that we can be able to move forward.»

“In the event that they do not accept, we also provided that it should be left for us to choose principal officers of the House in line with the standing rules of the House, so we have to come back and hold an election» he said.

Reacting to the letter by Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, APC’s National Chairman, on the nominees for the four principal offices, Jibrin said the Dogara group remains resolute that it is nonexistent and a mere piece of paper without any accompanying authority.

According to him, “we maintain the position that we do not recognise the letter written by the party in quotes and I give you reasons. We have utmost respect for the chairman of the party, but that letter did not pass through the relevant organs of the party.

“It was neither approved by the National Working Committee, the National Executive Council, not even the caucus was consulted and it was wa product of one of two governors and of course the National Chairman.

“Let me maintain the fact that we respect the national chairman and we will only respect a letter through legal organs of the party. Our position is that we do not recognise the existence of such letter.”

Reacting to the seeming insubordination, Chanchangi said that the proposal made by the Dogara group on the House Leader position is not acceptable because it was not jointly agreed upon.

He said further that the loyalists of Gbajabiamila who are toeing the party line are ready for the election at the caucus level which non-APC members would not be part of, to select principal officers for the APC in the House.

“We, the 174 APC Loyalists group of the House are aware that there was a private discussion between Governor Aminu Tambuwal and President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday evening at the State House.

“Also aware that Gov. Tambuwal briefed the press that there would be a meeting between him and Speaker  Dogara’s group same day.

“To the best of our knowledge, no counter-offer has been made to the APC Loyalists group after her first meeting with Tambuwal peace committee wherein the APC Loyalists clearly stated that in line with party supremacy resolution reached at last APC NEC meeting, the position of the party on Femi Gbajabiamila as the House Leader is non-negotiable.

“We understand that the Dogara group is now playing the zoning card after same group had hitherto before the speakership election of June 9th, 2015 rejected the zoning formula of the party prior to the mock election.

“Interestingly the six geopolitical zones in the country are not recognised by the constitution. But if they wish to play the zoning card, then the Senate and House cannot be headed by the North.

“For avoidance of doubt, the issue of South East being denied a principal officer’s seat in the House is hogwash. We have respect for people of South East but we cannot hold brief for a zone that produced only two “new” APC members.

 “The issue of exclusion of South East does not exist, rather they are not qualified to be principal officers of the House. For emphasis and clarity the provision of standing rules of the House, Order 7 Rule 37 states that  “Only members with cognate legislative experience as members of the national assembly shall be eligible for appointment as principal officers”.

“We are also surprised that a group led by Speaker Dogara who is a lawyer is talking about a court action presumably instigated by him base on federal character, when a fresh law school graduate knows that the issue of federal character as enshrined in S.14 of the constitution is non justiceable and of no legal consequence.”

“In playing his mediatory role , the former House Speaker, Gov. Tambuwal agreed to take our position to Dogara group for consideration and convene a joint meeting of both groups, which is yet to be convened as at Wednesday evening.

“So any purported decision reeled out to the public in the name of the National Assembly peace pact before such joint meeting, is lopsided and not acceptable to the APC Loyalists group.

“However, as a group that wants peace and quick solution to the logjam in the House, the APC loyalists group would equally subscribe to an election among entire members of the APC House Caucus where all members irrespective of zones would exercise their right to elect their principal officers” the Gbajabiamila group stressed.