By Aaron Ossai

Concerns are mounting over alleged manipulated numbers of Reps-elect said to have so far endorsed the preferred candidates of the 10th National Assembly Speaker and Deputy, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas (APC-Kaduna) and Hon. Benjamin Kalu (APC-Abia) allegedly by Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila the incumbent Speaker.

It would be recalled that Abbas and Kalu were on May 8 announced by the APC NWC as its preferred consensus for Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively for the 10th House of Representatives allegedly without recourse to other aspirants.

Sen. Abdullahi Adamu led NWC of the APC was said to have been furious when they discovered that the figure presented by Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, the incumbent Speaker and his group, “Joint Task” would not win the party the speakership seat.

Gbajabiamila it was gathered remained unperturbed in his quest to push for the candidacy of Abbas as his successor.

This however did not go down well with other aspirants who vowed to resist Gbajabiamila’s attempt to impose his stooge on the 10th Assembly,

This has culminated into some of the aspirants constituting themselves into G7 with a resolved to foil the alleged move by the outgoing Speaker and present a consensus candidate to counter Gbajabiamila from among the G-7 Group.

It was further gathered that Adamu was said to have equally informed Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the President-elect that he was losing grip of the protests against the zoning issue by aspirants.

Some of the aspirants in both chambers had visited the APC National Secretariat to condemn the zoning arrangement and the choice of some aspirants as the party preferred candidates without consulting them before making such announcement.

It was learnt that a meeting that was attended by less than 80 Reps out of 113 that appended their signatures at the Transcorp Hilton was forged to impress the Chairman of the party, Adamu.

Meanwhile, a group formed by Gbajabiamila, “Joint Task” led by Hon. Bello Kumo, pushing for the Abbas/Kalu project was alleged to have been cooking up figures to impress the APC NWC as having the requisite number in a bid to further curry the endorsement of NWC.

At the meeting of the Joint Task with the Vice President-elect at his Asokoro, Abuja home on May 12, where183 members-elect were said to have attended, finding from the register signed by the members-elect revealed that the 183 figure did not add up as the total number was just a little above 60.

It was also learnt that at some meetings of the Joint Task in Transcorp Hilton, some non returning lawmakers who lost their elections appended their signatures,” albeit fraudulently to inflate figure.

Abbas, the preferred candidate had equally bragged that he had 107 opposition members-elect backing him.