Senator Abdullahi Adamu’s latest remark has revived the heated debate over zoning once more. On Friday, April 29, the APC national chairman stated that the ruling party had not made a final decision on the matter. The remark has provoked resentment among a variety of factions in the country, particularly those supporting the southern candidate for president in 2023.
Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) – According to a report by ThisDay newspaper, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) claimed on Friday, April 29 that it has not chosen where to zone its presidential ticket for the 2023 elections, prompting widespread outrage. Senator Abdullahi Adamu, the APC’s national chairman, said the party had not made any zoning decisions.
He claimed that making such a choice would be the responsibility of the entire party, which he claimed was larger than himself as chairman.
Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe, the SSEF’s national leader, believes that such a move will give ethnic nationalities in the south the impression that they are not welcome in the country. Sara-Igbe voiced concern that any attempt to renegotiate the unwritten gentleman’s agreement between the north and the south would result in a terrible outcome that no one could predict. The ACYF, for its part, has called on Adamu, the APC’s national chairman, to retract his assertion that the party had taken no position on zoning.
The ACYF said yesterday that the comment attributed to Adamu had the potential to heat up the polity and spell doom for the party if it was not swiftly removed. In response, Ohanaeze Ndigbo called on President Muhammadu Buhari to show great courage and leadership by convincing his party to zone the presidency to the southeast in 2023.
The organization, through its spokesman, Chief Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia, said those who proposed the idea of partitioning the country into zones were not wrong.
Angry party leaders claim that the delegates’ list circulated included the names of those APC members who had departed on their own volition or had ceased to be members owing to circumstances beyond their control, such as death.
According to certain party sources, the planned election of delegates, which is set to take place in about two weeks, may not take place in some states if there are few or no issues about the delegate list.
