Apex Igbo social-cultural group, Ohanaeze N’digbo, has commended the All Progressive Congress (APC) for zoning their presidential ticket to the southern part of Nigeria.
Alex Ogbonnia, Secretary of Ohanaeze noted that the APC had by their zoning pattern shown the way for others to follow.
He said it was important to recapitulate that the concept of zoning of political offices was first introduced in the Second Republic by the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) as a way of managing the diverse inter-ethnic tensions.
He added that during a National Constitutional Conference, following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, a number of prominent leaders such as Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Chief Solomon Lar, Chief Bola Ige, Alh Abubakar Rimi, advocated rotating the presidency between the North and the South and specifically among the six geopolitical zones (north-central, north-east, north-west, south-east, south-south, and south-west).
Ogbonnia further stated that the zoning principle attained a healthy climax with the PDP-led government under Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, adding that during the Obasanjo democratic era, zoning of political party offices was also displayed publicly to the admiration of all the participants.
“The zoning principle also applied to the ministries of the federal government, such that some ministries, categorized as grade A, B, C, etc were resolved across the six geo-political zones of the country to ensure balance, equity and national loyalty; and even down to the federal boards and parastatals.
“The zoning system was so promoted that it was incorporated into the constitution of the ruling PDP.
“The APC, in order to beat the PDP in their own game, in 2014 zoned their presidential candidate to the North and the Vice Presidential candidate to the South and that was the APC trump card for the 2015 general election.
“Two days ago, the governor of Kaduna State, Nasir Ahmad El Rufai disclosed that the APC had always applied zoning in the three previous elections. According to El Rufai, “when we elected John Oyegun as chairman, we had a zoning arrangement. Each of the six zones had offices allocated to them. We also carried that along when we elected Adams Oshimhole as our national chairman.
“Thus, APC has by the above decision won the heart of the Southern Governors Forum comprising governors from PDP, APC, and APGA, Ohanaeze N’digbo Worldwide, Afenifere, Southern and Middle Belt Leadership Forum, Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) and indeed all Nigerian compatriots.
“It is hoped that the PDP will emulate the APC by zoning its presidential ticket to the South. It is worth reiterating that the bane of Nigerian politics is rooted, among others, in lack of principles.”
