2023 Presidency: APC Must take a stance on Zoning – Akeredolu

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has said the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) must take a position of zoning.

There have been different agitations in the ruling party over the 2023 Presidency.

• 2023 Presidency: No decision yet on zoning, says Adamu
• Adamu’s position on zoning can destabilise APC – Northern youths

Before the party’s convention which led to the emergence of Senator Abdullahi Adamu as chairman, Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State had said though the APC had not decided on zoning the presidential ticket, the swapping of national offices was an indication of where its presidential candidate would come from.

But after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja last week, Adamu told reporters that the party had not taken a stance on zoning.

“I am today privileged to be the chairman of the party. The party is greater than me. The party has not made a decision and I cannot preempt what the party decision will be,” he had said.

In a statement on Tuesday, Akeredolu, who is Chairman of South West Governors’ Forum, said the issue of zoning must not throw the party into another round of crisis.

“Our party, the All Progressives Congress, 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 elections.”

“The current socio-economic 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.

“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 elections 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.

“It is the turn of the Southern part of the country to produce the next President. The party leadership should have no difficulty in making pronouncement on this very important issue, just as it has fixed various fees for the purchase of forms. This must be done without delay.”