By Sam Otuonye
A foundation member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Osita Okechukwu, has appealed to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to allow the Southern part to complete its tenure in the Presidency.
Okechukwu, a former Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), said in a statement on Sunday in Enugu, that the move would be in the overall interest of the entire country.
The statesman was responding to a call by a group – Southern Political Progressive Amalgamation Forum – for the former vice president to abandon the zonal rotation and vie directly for the presidential position.
Okechukwu, however, urged Atiku to carefully consider his choice of vice-presidential candidate ahead of the 2027 General Elections to strengthen his support base in the South; thus, dismissing the group’s position.
He noted that it was pressure from self-serving groups such as the Southern Political Progressive Amalgamation Forum that goaded His Excellency Atiku Abubakar in abandoning the North-South rotational convention.
According to him, this self-serving groups’ pressure has led to our sister political party – Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – destabilisation.
The APC chieftain appealed to the former vice president to return to the zoning convention in order to help strengthen Nigeria’s fledgling democracy.
Okechukwu noted that Atiku himself had previously defended the utility and importance of zoning during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
He recalled Atiku’s statement at the time:
“It is either President Jonathan is not a member of the PDP or is living in denial of the same principle of zoning which saw his emergence as Vice President in 2007.”
Okechukwu maintained that as a beneficiary of the zoning arrangement, “Atiku should uphold the principle and support its continued application in the interest of national cohesion, equity, and political stability”.
He said that it was not too late for Atiku to withdraw from the 2027 presidential contest.
“it is never too late to make amend, he should be a statesman and instead of hauling blame barbs on President Bola Tinubu, albeit use the few months left to forge a strong opposition,” he said.