The lawmaker representing Bende federal constituency (Abia State) in the House of Representative, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, has withdrawn from the race to be the Speaker.
This comes a day after the announcement of the zoning formula by the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 10th National Assembly, in which the party nominated Kalu for Deputy Speaker.
In a statement by his media aide, the lawmaker said: “I believed this position (Speaker) was ideal for the Southeast region, as it has not produced a Speaker in the last 40 years.
”However, as a firm believer in party supremacy, I have decided to withdraw my candidacy for the Speakership position and fully accept the nomination for the position of Deputy Speaker of the 10th Assembly in line with the directives of our party”.
APC had endorsed Senator Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom State) as Senate President and Senator Jibrin Barau (Kano State) as the Deputy.
Hon. Abbas Tajudeen (Kaduna State) has been endorsed as House of Representatives Speaker and Kalu as his Deputy.
