2023: PDP clarification on zoning, heartwarming ― Okechukwu, DG VON

Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress and Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, has described as heartwarming, the clarification by the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Debo Ologunagba, that the main opposition party has not zoned its presidential ticket to the North.

Ologunagba disclosure was on the heels of claim by former Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu, that the main opposition party has zoned the party’s presidential ticket to the north.

Speaking with newsmen in Abuja at the weekend, Okechukwu said rotation of power between the North and South was key to the preservation of the country’s unity.

While he restated his delight in the PDP National Working Committee refutal to former Niger State Governor claim,
the Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (DG VON), maintained that “the two dominant political parties in our multiparty system, APC and PDP, hold the key to the restoration of Nigeria’s unity by observing the zoning convention. It was that same zoning convention that midwifed our 4th Republic and we are waiting for the two to save our fledgling democracy.”

Okechukwu who called for micro zoning of the ticket of the two dominant political parties to the South-East explained that his adamant campaign for zoning is that political power has always rotated between the north and south, adding, “my major concern is the peace, unity and prosperity of our dear fatherland.”

He asserted that in political activities, the law with its legal teeth combines with convention and its moral weight, stressing that both played prominent roles in the political economies of all countries at one point or the other.

“It was based on this premise, for instance, that patriots like former Vice President, Dr Alex Ekwueme, Solomon Daushep Lar, Alhajis Abubakar Rimi, Umaru Shinkafi, Adamu Ciroma, Dr Olusola Saraki, all of blessed memory, and a host of others shelved their self-interest and adopted the zoning convention, thereby saving our country. We need the same zoning convention to further stabilise Nigeria.”

Okechukwu who admitted that power brokers in the ruling party might rebuff his position on zoning, however, declared: “Mine is to walk the path of persuasion, I know our great party, APC is not averse to zoning. In fact, zoning was one of the factors that built national resolve and enhanced our victory in 2015.

“I have lived for 33 years in the north, I know Nigeria sufficiently well that every geopolitical zone has eminently qualified persons to preside over the country; therefore, none should be denied the opportunity. I also know that it is not the region, which produced the President that benefits more, so it is a soothing balm in nation-building.”

Responding to the seeming confusion over which micro-zone in the South should get the Presidency, Okechukwu stated: “Without being immodest, it is the turn of the Southeast; our brothers in Southwest had eight years 1999-2007 and eight years of Vice President 2015-2023, while our South-South brothers had 2010-2015. Thus going by equity, natural justice and good conscience it is the turn of the Southeast.

“Zoning to Southeast will be the end of the civil war and end of IPOB. It will give Ndigbo renewed faith in Nigeria, sense of belonging and national loyalty. To a large extent, allowing a person from Southeast to succeed President Buhari would be the President’s greatest legacy.”

He said his position is without prejudice to the demographic considerations by PDP or the claim that former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, be compensated by the APC for the role he played in President Buhari’s election.

“Without self-immolation, Ndigbo are not only foremost patriots that live and invest in all nooks and crannies of this country; but also its borders on misinformation or misrepresentation to underrate Igbo population in Nigeria.

“For instance, taking Lagos City as the most populous city and Kano as the most populous state in the country, you will agree with me that Igbo constitute the second dominant inhabitants after the original indigenes in both Lagos metropolis and Kano State.”

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2023: PDP clarification on zoning, heartwarming ― Okechukwu, DG VON