The group urged the party to set the stage for the emergence of a credible National Assembly leadership through democratic elections by its members as enshrined in the constitution.
The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), has called on the leadership of All Progressives Congress (APC) to reclaim its statesmanship by immediately reversing the decision on Senator Godswill Akpabio and Tajudee Abbas as preferred candidates for the position of the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, in the 10th National Assembly.
The group urged the party to set the stage for the emergence of a credible National Assembly leadership through democratic elections by its members as enshrined in the constitution.
CNG also called the attention of the “President-Elect”, Bola Tinubu, to watch his back and guard against entrenched Judases who are bent on pitching him against democracy, against popular national will and against such regions as the North.
The CNG’s Spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, made this known while speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday in Abuja, noting that the elected lawmakers should be allowed to select their preferred leaders.
The statement read in part; "To warn that if this and any similar arrangements are allowed to pass through, the North as a whole would be deliberately shortchanged by stripping it of the three main democratic influences; the executive, the legislature and the Judiciary which would be absolutely unacceptable as it is unjustifiable.
"The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has watched events unfolding in Nigeria since the conclusion of the February 25 elections and emergence of a President-elect and members to form the 10th National Assembly.
"CNG has particularly monitored the regional agitations and permutations regarding the top positions in the National Assembly, especially the offices of the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and their deputies.
"We note with utter perplexity and concern, the desperation by certain interest groups in the ruling All Progressives Congress to impose as President of the Senate, Mr Godswill Akpabio, one of the several candidates from one of the several geopolitical zones in the country to the detriment of other sections, other aspirants and of course democracy itself.
"This desperate group is as well working to impose a preferred candidate as House Speaker in total disregard for democratic ethics and constitutionalism.
"The CNG also notes the involvement of such Northern collaborators as Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state and Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano in this diabolic scheme that potentially threatens to pitch the president-elect against other sections of the country, in particular the North, from where he extracted the bulk of his winning votes.
"As the representatives of various interest groups from Northern Nigeria, and having watched and studied these events carefully, with considerable restraint and neutrality, the CNG, not one to lower the bar where the interests of the North, the unity of Nigeria, or the promotion of democratic values and ideals are involved, hereby arrives at the following inevitable observations:
"That it is ridiculous, contradictory and shameful for the APC, which stoutly resisted the temptation to limit the contest for the presidential ticket to zoning and opted for democratic primaries should now confine the democratic space for the selection of the Senate leadership.
"That it is unreasonable and irresponsible for the party to suggest that a set of eminent personalities carefully elected by their respective constituencies as Senators and Representatives in the federal legislature cannot democratically elect leaders for themselves.
"That this conspiracy to tamper with the National Assembly leadership selection process that clearly puts the North at disadvantage, is actively perpetrated with the connivance of some individuals from the region, and accommodated by the personal ambition and greed of some of those that present themselves as northern political leaders.
"That the suspicious involvement of El-Rufai who has lost all the three Senate seats from his state to the opposition and Ganduje who lost two and barely managed to hold unto one, is a sign of desperation for personal political ascendancy at the expense of our hard earned democracy.
"That overall, the APC has glaringly failed to learn from lessons of history by not reflecting on the events of 2015 when the party attempted the same costly adventure which ultimately failed to favour them.
"In the light of the foregone observations, the CNG hereby resolves as follows: To categorically hold that any attempt to hoist a National Assembly leadership on the nation by resorting to draconian, michavelian, undemocratic and unconstitutional means is downright repugnant to the collective sensibilities of Nigerians, blatant disrespect for constitutionalism, disregard for rules of fairness and ordinary decency and therefore unacceptable and would be roundly resisted.
"To emphatically call on the leadership of the APC to reclaim its statesmanship by immediately reversing the decision on Akpabio and Abbass, and setting the stage for the emergence of a credible National Assembly leadership through democratic elections by its members as enshrined in our Constitution.
"To encourage all other aspirants for any position in the National Assembly to disregard this purported, undemocratic arrangement and insist on the emergence of their leadership through acceptable, constitutionally recognized democratic election.
"To likewise urge all aspirants to the House of position of the House Representatives Speaker, such as Betara, Wase, Doguwa and the rest from all sections of the country to insist on a transparent and democratic emergence of leaders of the House.
"To renew our commitment to engaging all leaders and fellow Nigerians as we have always done as northerners to form a coalition to reclaim, restore and protect the sanctity of our hard earned democracy with the certainty that leaders who cannot be advised, are a liability and a burden on the nation," the statement added.