CHAIRMAN, Southern Governors Forum and Ondo State governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, alongside other key stakeholders in the Nigeria project, on Monday, warned the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the plot to zone its 2023 presidential ticket to the North. Other prominent citizens that spoke against the plot, including Senator Ali Ndume and foremost labour leader, Comrade Frank Kokori, said the plot constitutes a threat to the delicate balance of the country.
The public outrage followed the declaration by the national chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu that the party had not zoned its ticket to the South. The presidential convention of the party is expected to hold on May 30 and 31.
Speaking at the Presidential Villa at the weekend, Adamu had dropped the hint that no geopolitical zone would be precluded from the race for APC ticket.
Adamu, who incidentally is from the North-Central, said no decision had been taken on zoning of the APC presidential slot.
In a statement he personally signed, Governor Akeredolu said power should be zoned to the South in 2023 because “it is the turn of the southern part of the country to produce the next president.”
Akeredolu said his party, the APC, should be bold enough to come out on the issue by zoning its presidential ticket to the South for equity, justice and fairness. He said the APC leadership should not keep party members waiting on where the next president would come from but to act decisively on the matter without delay, stressing that the principle of Federal Character is enshrined in the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Akeredolu stated it would be disingenuous for anyone to argue against rotation at this period, adding that just as the party fixed various fees for the purchase of forms, it should have no difficulty making pronouncement on this very important issue, just as it has fixed various fees for the purchase of forms.
“No statement must suggest, even remotely, that the party harbours certain sentiments which may predispose it to consider throwing the contest open. This is certainly not the time for equivocation. Equity dictates that we take a stand,” he stressed.
Akeredolu, who noted that APC leadership ensured the spirit of rotational representation in its just concluded convention, demanded that it extended the spirit towards zoning power to the South by making categorical statement, devoid of equivocation, on the pattern of succession.
Akeredolu said: “The current democratic dispensation is anchored on the unwritten convention driven by a principle of equity.
“Political expediency dictates, more appealingly, that while adhering to the spirit and letters of the laws guiding conduct of elections and succession to political offices, we must do nothing which is capable of tilting the delicate balance against the established arrangement which guarantees peace and promotes trust.
“Our party just elected officers on the established principle of giving every part of the country an important stake in the political calculus. The focus has now shifted to the process which will culminate in the participation of our party in the general election scheduled for next year.
“All lovers of peace and freedom must do everything to eschew tendencies which may predispose them to taking decisions which promote distrust and lead to a crisis, the end of which nobody may be able to predict.
“The leadership of the party ensured that the principle of rotational representation guided its decision at the just-concluded convention. The party chairmanship position has gone to the North. All other offices have been filled on this understanding.
“This is the time the leaders of the party must make a categorical statement, devoid of equivocation, on the pattern of succession.”
He added, “Our party, the APC, has started the process which will eventually culminate in the presentation of elected political leaders, who must steer the affairs of the country for another term.
“We have been able to hold the party’s convention successfully. New officers of the party have emerged in a process that is widely acknowledged as rancour-free.
“The level of understanding and maturity displayed by all and sundry has been commendable. Known adversaries have been forced to accept the emerging fact that our party is formidable and ready for the next general election.
“The current socioeconomic crises are surmountable. It is commendable that the government is addressing these issues without drama. The Federal Government and leadership of our great party will come out stronger. We cannot, therefore, afford any internal bickering which holds the potential promise of causing distrust and militating against cohesion, harmony and the zeal to achieve set objectives.”
It will be suicidal for APC to zone presidency to North —Kokori
Kokori, a former secretary-general of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), warned that any attempt by the leadership of APC to zone its presidency to the North would be suicidal.
Speaking to Nigerian Tribune by telephone from his Ovu country home in Delta State, he was unequivocal in his denunciation of the clandestine move to dump zoning, warning that enough is enough of issues that could further polarise and create inequalities among Nigerians.
“If Nigeria of today were to be Nigeria of those days where people don’t talk about tribalism and all those things, it would have been better, but now people talk about ethnicity and all those things.
“The present government actually made it worst by being very ethnically inclined and I think that is the reason this debate is very hot.
“Obviously, by equity and justice, it should be in the South. I believe it should be in the South. It will be suicidal if it goes to the North again.
“This is the first time the southern governors have started realising that the North has been taking the South for granted.
“I, as a patriot and a freedom fighter and a hero of democracy, I think enough is enough. The presidency should be in the South and that is my opinion,” he said. He alleged that the current presidency has already laid a foundation of nepotism and inequality among Nigerians such that it could no longer be trusted.
“Because the presidency was too nepotistic. They give all the positions, including the whole security positions, to the North. All the strategic positions are in the North which is very unfair to the South. It has never been done that way.
“Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan and Umaru Yar’Adua never did it. Buhari doing it amazes me. He is running the country so one-sidedly and I am beginning to believe this lamentation that some people have been making for a long time and this is the last thing I want for my country,” he added.
He urged the governors from the South to remain resolute in their quest for southern presidency in 2023.
It will amount to betrayal —Ndume
APC stalwart and senator representing Borno South, Ndume, expressed concern over the indication to throw open the ticket of the ruling party.
Ndume, who is the director general of Amaechi campaign organisation, said it would amount to betrayal for the North to join the APC presidential race or produce a candidate for the party.
He disclosed that there was an understanding that the North should produce a candidate in 2015, which informed the predominance of aspirants for the APC ticket from the three zones in the North.
He said: “That will be unfair, injustice and almost a betrayal of trust and a gentleman agreement. We had an agreement in 2015, though not written, that the North should produce the president. That was why all the presidential aspirants were from the North: Atiku Abubakar; Nda Isaiah; Rabiu Kwankwaso; Muhammadu Buhari, all contested.
“Only Rochas Okorocha just participated because he already had the governorship ticket in his pocket. He just participated for the sake of it, because Buhari even won Imo State delegates. That was why no aspirants contested from South-West, South-South and the SouthEast.
“I believe in justice; I am not against anybody from the North contesting; it is their constitutional right. If APC fields a northern candidate, that will be tantamount to a third term. I think it is better to lose with honour than to win without honour. Southerners are Nigerians who should be given equal rights. What is due to Caesar should be given to Caesar.”
Zoning, power rotation not in sync with democratic tenets —Yakassai
Elder statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, expressed a different opinion. Speaking with Nigerian Tribune, Yakassai said zoning, power rotation, consensus, are not in sync with democratic tenets.
He said: “Zoning, power rotation are all products of compromises. In politics, compromise is allowed. But in a situation where compromises cannot be reached, everybody is given opportunity. All aspirants will be allowed to go to the field. That’s the tenets of democracy which is free choice.”
Zoning, failure of governance over time – Yusuf Ali
A legal icon, Mallam Yusuf Olaolu Ali, described zoning as “a failure of governance over time,” adding that it could not have been an issue if there was equity and fairness in government.
“I have never been a fan of zoning in anything. No, no, no! It’s symptomatic of a non-working union. It shows a failure of governance over time.
“If whoever occupies the number one spot in the country acts equitably a clamour for zoning. It’s because people feel that the executive is their own man, then we won’t have our right. That’s why people are clamouring.
“So, if our government over time had been equitable and there had been even distribution of amenities and utilities across the land, nobody would care where anybody comes from. So, we should address that problem.
“That’s the root cause of it all. If we don’t address it, we can zone till thy kingdom comes. I’ve never supported zoning, because it’s an acceptance of failure… The failure of our system and the failure of al of us.
“If the system is working well, who cares whether the president and the vice president are children of same parents? Not to talk of being from same place or not. It’s because things are not working. That’s my take,” he said.
We will campaign against northern candidate – ASOMBEN
National chairman of Association of Middle Belt Nationalities (ASOMBEN), Mr Sule Kwasau, said dumping zoning would further aggravate the lack of equity and inclusiveness, adding that any attempt to jettison zoning will inaugurate a culture of exclusivity and heighten tension.
“It will be unconstitutional because the Federal Character principle enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution says there shall not be a concentration of power in one section of the country or particular tribe or state.
“So, for us to move ahead as a nation, we must create an atmosphere of inclusivity where other sections of the country will feel a sense of belonging.
“It must be resisted by all well-meaning Nigerians. This country belongs to all of us, no one is more Nigerian than the other. No single ethnic group or religion can claim ownership of this country, so people of goodwill must resist this,” he said.
APC must respect mood of the nation —Bamidele
Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, said zoning of the 2023 presidential ticket to the South is legitimate and constitutional.
He described the rotation of presidency between the North and the South as a legal and constitutional agitation recognised by Section 14 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, calling on the APC leadership to respect the mood of the nation.
Speaking in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, on Tuesday, during an empowerment programme for his constituents across the five councils in the zone, Bamidele, who represents Ekiti Central, described agitation for presidency from politicians of southern extraction as a legitimate request.
Addressing journalists at the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium, in Ado Ekiti, venue of the event, Bamidele said: “Rotational presidency is legitimate and constitutional. Let me state that Section 14 of the constitution and various sections of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, stated that no section of the country should dominate others in terms of positions.
“Let me also state that the primary concept of governance is welfare and good governance. The section emphasises that Nigeria shall not be governed in such a way that any particular section will have domineering advantage over others.
“That is the whole essence of equitable distribution of wealth and power. Part of the equitable distribution of power is allowing presidency to rotate between North and South. Though the constitution didn’t say specifically about rotation, but logically and through various judicial interpretations, allowing it to rotate is legal and constitutional.”
Bamidele also added that allowing the presidency to return to the South in 2023 will douse the raging restiveness and tension in the country.
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