VON DG urges APC, PDP to adopt fourth republic zoning pact
Supporting S’east presidency will be Buhari’s greatest legacy
Afounding member of governing All Progressives Congress ( APC), Mr. Osita Okechukwu, has commended the opposition Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) for the timely clarification of its stand on zoning the 2023 presidency.
Speaking to journalists on the clarification made by PDP, yesterday, Okechukwu said
APC and PDP, hold the key to the preservation of Nigeria’s unity by observing the zoning convention, which midwifed the 4th Republic in 1999.
He noted also that supporting a President from Southeast would be APC and by extension President Muhammadu Buhari’s greatest legacy to the socio- political stability and development of Nigeria.
It could be recalled that the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, renounced the statement made by former Niger State governor, Alhaji Babangida Aliyu and Chief Femi Fani- Kayode at different fora, that PDP has zoned the party’s presidential ticket to the North, preferably in favour of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Ologunagba had stated: “The attention of the Peoples Democratic Party has been drawn to comments and speculations from certain individuals claiming that our party has zoned its presidential ticket to a particular part of the country.
“This is completely misleading as it does not in any way represent the position of our party. For the avoidance of doubt, the PDP emphatically and unequivocally states that it has not zoned its presidential ticket to any part of the country.”
Welcoming the PDP’S stance as very interesting and refreshing, Okechukwu, who is also the Director General of Voice of Nigeria ( VON), maintained that “the two dominant political parties in our multiparty system, APC and PDP, hold the key to 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 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,” he stated.