By Seyifunmi Odunuga
A group within the All Progressives Congress (APC), South West Youth Forum for Good Governance, has thrown its weight behind the lawmaker representing Ibadan North Federal Constituency, Hon. Musliu Akinremi, to become the Deputy Speaker of the 10th National Assembly.
The group in a communique issued at the end of its meeting held in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, and made available in Ibadan, said the returning lawmaker is the best person to occupy the office given his antecedents and the need to give Oyo State its due in positions coming to the South West region.
The group in the communique signed by Ogunwale Babafemi, Ogun State; Omiyale David Ayobami, Osun State; Adetunji Oluwaseun Paul, Ekiti State; Adepeju Flora Iwajubu, Ondo State; Setonji Koko, Lagos State and Ajibade Saheed Ayoola, Oyo State, said the position of Deputy National Auditor which is junior was given to Oyo State during the last National Convention of the party, noting that it is incumbent that the office of Deputy Speaker should be ceded to the state.
It maintained that out of the candidates vying for the office, Akinremi is the best as he possesses the requisite competence, capacity, and character to provide the needed stability for the House of Representatives is a member of the National Caretaker Committee of the party.
It added that as an experienced leader who is emotionally intelligent to provide leadership and stability for the House, he has succeeded in delivering the dividends of democracy to his constituents in Ibadan North, stating that within the last four years, Akinremi has become ‘Governor of Ibadan North.’
The group specifically called on the president-elect, National Chairman and other leaders of the party as well as members of the House of Representatives to do everything possible to zone the office of Deputy Speaker to Oyo State and support Akinremi, insisting that if he is elected as Deputy Speaker he would be a round peg in a round hole.
The communique read in part, “It is important that the office of Deputy Speaker be zoned to Oyo State as it was not given a lesser position during the last convention of the party.
“To us, we believe that the House of Representatives must be led by people like Hon. Musliu Akinremi, who are men of character, impeccable antecedents and unbroken experience in managing human resources at a very high level and have used their positions to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.
“We, therefore, urge the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by the president-elect, the National Chairman and all members-elect for the 10th House of Representatives to rally around Akinremi and support his emergence as the Deputy Speaker.”
