Southern presidency: APC, PDP and history

Oladipupo Oluwole

POLITICAL parties are the most appropriate vehicles for recruiting and choosing candidates for both elective and unelective political offices. Hence, both the northern and southern governors forums should have utilised their various internal political party organs to canvass power shift.If the southern governors had mustered the strength and courage with which they were canvassing for a southern president, on the issues of restructuring, electronic voting system, constitutional reviews, etc, all along, we would have made some improvements by now! Shifting power to the South or North would, however, have been an easy task if we were in a one-party system. But in a multi party system like ours, with individual parties’ internal democracy, political mechanism, policy and rule, there is a need for synergy, collective decision making, agreement and general consensus among political parties, and not governors’ forums.

In view of APC’s promise of power shift in 2023, and eight years of a northerner, President Muhammadu Buhari, it would, therefore, not be just and fair to the APC members and followers in the South if APC chooses its 2023 presidential candidate from the North! If, however, APC could fulfill its promise of power shift to the South, it would be fair and just to micro-zone the post to the South-West. Although all the three southern regions have equal rights to it, the South-West contributed to APC and the emergence of President Buhari more than the two other regions of South-East and South-South! On the part of the PDP, however, it would be morally unjust and unfair to the PDP members and followers in the North  if the party chooses or zones its presidential candidate to the South. The reason being that two Southerners (Obasanjo and Jonathan) ruled for 14 years, under the PDP government (1999-2015), while a northerner, President Umaru Yar’Adua from the North-West, ruled for just two years before he died.

If we, however, consider the tenures of the two major political parties since 1999 till 2023 in the context of Nigeria as a political entity, it will be incumbent and just for power to automatically shift to the South, since a northerner, President Buhari, would have ruled for eight years in 2023. There should, however, be discussions, agreement and consensus from all the political parties to choose their best presidential candidates from the East which has not produced Nigeria’s president since 1999. The move by the APC’s Governor Akeredolu to use the Southern Governors Forum, instead of his political party to canvass/agitate for a southern president was not only to prevent some so-called Northern APC cabal and the party’s national leadership from reneging on the party promise to shift power to the South in 2023, but was equally a political manoeuver to force the PDP to choose or zone its 2023 presidential candidate to the South, which will be unjust to the Northern PDP members, party faithful and followers, thereby leading to the great advantage of APC. Secondly, PDP has no capacity and capability to match APC in the South in terms of human resources—presidential candidates wise, and as the ruling party, hence paving the way for APC to win the 2023 presidential elections, and therefore fulfill the assertion of ruling Nigeria for more than 60 years, as postulated by an APC chieftain, Alhaji Alli Modu Sheriff.

History always has a way of repeating itself. Hence, will Southern PDP members and their governors, therefore, allow history to repeat itself, either negatively or positively, judging by the 2013/2014 implosion in the party, as a result of Northern PDP members perceived feeling of injustice after former President Goodluck Jonathan’s insistence on contesting again after completing what would have been the second tenure of the late President Yar’Adua? The future will surely tell.

• Oluwole writes in from Ibadan via oladipooluwole21@gmail.com

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