Speaker Seat: Obi Leads South East Governors Campaign To Jonathan

ABUJA, May 09, (THEWILL) - The quest by the South East members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to convince the party's hierarchy to zone the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives to the South East received a major boost over the weekend, as the Chairman of the Governors’ forum of the zone, Mr. Peter Obi of Anambra State assured that he would lead his colleagues to Abuja to meet President Goodluck Jonathan.

This was the aftermath of the meeting the governor had with representatives of the members of the House of Representatives from the five states in the zone, led by the Chief Whip Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, at the Government House, Awka, over the weekend.

The lawmakers at the meeting had told the governor that the zone had massively voted for President Jonathan in the presidential election and the party in general and deserves to be compensated with either the position of Speaker or President of the Senate.

A source at the meeting said that the governor assured that he would rally his brother governors to meet with President Jonathan as soon as he returns from his official trip to Uganda.

The meeting, which was earlier scheduled for Enugu was moved to Awka at the eleventh hour. Our correspondent gathered that the relocation of the meeting was for strategic reasons since Governor Obi is the Chairman of the South East Governors caucus.

Meanwhile, 42 members of the House of Representatives from the South East have written to President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) insisting that the position of Speaker be zoned to their geo-political zone in order to right the wrongs of the past.

The lawmakers in the letter claimed that the South East has done so much in the emergence of President Goodluck Jonathan and the sustenance of democracy in the country.

It is however uncertain whether the PDP leadership would back down on its resolve to hand the Speaker Seat to the South West zone, where it was trounced comprehensively by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).