Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, has warned against messing around with the issue of zoning, saying the party could lose next year's presidential election if it fails to 'tread the path of equity' by opposing power shift to the Southern part of the country.
Akeredolu who is the chairman of the South West Governors Forum, made the statement following a recent statement by the Party's National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, claiming the party hasn't settled on issues of zoning.
“There is nowhere it is written that once a chairman emerges comes from the North, the presidential candidate must come from the South. It is just a convention, it isn’t written in the APC constitution," party chieftain, Chief Chekwas Okorie, told Saturday Tribune in a telephone interview, as he backs the position of the National Chairman.
However, Akeredolu who seem displeased with the party's position on the matter, said the APC's swift decision to slap N100 million fee for the purchase of forms, cannot be more easier than taking a clear position on zoning the Presidency to the South.
He said the principle of Federal Character is enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, as amended. Therefore, it will be disingenuous for anyone to argue against rotation at this period. He said party must decide on the matter without delay.
He said, “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.
“The party executive committee has fixed a fee for the purchase of the nomination form for the office. It is expected, fervently, that it will proceed to complete the process by limiting the propensities for disagreement to a region for possible micro-management. It is very expedient that we avoid self-inflicted crises before the general elections.
“We must not keep our party men and women guessing on the position of the leadership of the party. This is the time to weigh in and take control of the process. 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 said.