A group, Kwara Must Change Forum, an arm of the All Progressives Congress, has endorsed Hon. Saheed Popoola as the next speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly.
Abiola Farounbi, the leader of the group, in a statement on Monday in Abuja said: “Popoola has paid his due in the APC and deserved to be chosen as the speaker.”
The group said Popoola remained the best option for the party, stressing that the APC could not afford to jettisoned experienced for zoning.
Farounbi said experience and party loyalty should be the criteria for anyone to emerge as the House of Assembly speaker, adding that Popoola possessed the aforementioned.
He said APC members in the state should move with the dynamics of politics and not be beclouded by zoning, adding that the House of Assembly was not a training ground.
“Party loyalty, stability, experience should be the requisite standard for electing the speaker,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the APC in the state has 24 House of Assembly newly elected members and will be electing a new speaker in June.
Popoola is an incumbent member of the Kwara House of Assembly, representing Ojomu Balogun Constituency in Offa.
He was the only member who did not defect to another party when the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, decamped from the party to the Peoples Democratic Party in 2018.
The group also called on elected members to put the interest of the state and the party above zoning, adding that the experience of Popoola would stabilise governance.
Farounbi called on APC supporters, elders and all stakeholders to prevail on the party leadership to ensure the emergence of Popoola who had shown unwavering loyalty and consistence to the party.
He said the group was already meeting with elected members on why they must give Popoola a chance to lead the state house of assembly as its speaker.