Take A Stand On Zoning Presidency To The South – Akeredolu Advises APC; Warns Of Looming Crisis

By Ayodele Oni

This one is not the voice that was crying in the wilderness, which nobody listened to, but the one that is part and parcel of the ruling All Progressive Congress, (APC), the one that has seen all.

Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, of Ondo state and chairman, Southern Governors Forum has words of advice for his fellows in the ruling party.

This latest sound bites titled “Our Party Must Tread The Path Of Equity,” may have been triggered by a statement last week by the National Chairman of APC, that the party has not zoned the Presidency.

Hear him in a statement he personally signed, “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.

“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.

“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. The principle of Federal Character is enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

“It will be disingenuous for anyone to argue against rotation at this period.

“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.”