Chuks Okocha reviews the discordant tunes on zoning and some of the gladiators from the two main political parties
The year 2023 is still three years away, but politicians and political parties have been making various political permutations amidst the zoning conundrum. But the governor of Kaduna state, Mallam Nasir el-rufai and the South eastern politicians have been most vociferous and outspoken on where the next president will come from.
A third term agenda may have been put to rest when the political buccaneers and jobbers muted the idea. The speed with which the presidency reacted gave hope that constitutionally, that May 28 2023 is the last day that President Muhammadu Buhari will sleep at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa. In the morning of May 29, he would be getting ready to hand over to the next president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
But what is in doubt is where the next president will come from. For the All Progressivess Congress (APC), the party is still tongue in check whether it will keep to it’s zoning arrangement of movement of the presidency rotating between the north and south. Chieftains of APC are now claiming that rotational presidency was a gentleman agreement.
For instance, Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, has said that rotational presidency was a gentleman agreement reached by the All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders during its formation.
He spoke against the background of resurgent debate on the necessity or otherwise of the concept in the nation’s polity, Ngige said it will help the stability of the country.
Speaking at the occasion to mark his birthday, the minister said that even though it was not contained in the party’s constitution, the framers of the constitution of the APC agreed that it was possible.
“It is not written in our constitution, but for me, it will make for stability and fairness if it rotates back to the South. I was in PDP, we practiced it. It makes for stability. We don’t have it in our party constitution but we, the framers of the constitution of the APC agreed that it is something possible. I was one of the wise men that drafted the APC constitution with Chief Segun Osoba as head. That’s what we agreed on; that we don’t have to insert it but these are things that could be done by gentleman agreement,” he said.
In the same manner, the former presidential liasion to President Shehu Shagari, Tanko Yakassai in agreeing to the concept of zoning said that the opposition party is not tied to a zoning principle that will tie it to the government in power. He maintained that any opposition party must adopt a zoning system that would earn votes for it.
Tanko Yakassai explained that the other political parties which are also operating on a zoning principle must not tailor their zoning arrangement to suit the zoning arrangement of the other party. According to the former presidential adviser, “It does not mean that opposition party must align with the zoning arrangement of the other party. In other words, if one party produces a candidate from the north, the next should produce a candidate from the north. It should produce from the south. But zoning arrangement can not prevent another party from producing candidate from the zone where the other party had produced a candidate that occupies that office at one time.”
Already, the governor of Kaduna state, el-rufai has been vociferous on the need for the APC to ensure that the successor to President Mohammadu Buhari must come from the South. He said last week that he will not support any president that does not come from the South
The Kaduna state governor explained that the idea of rotating the presidency may not be constitutional, but it is based on the country’s political arrangement.
He said, “In Nigerian politics, there is a system of rotation, in which everyone agrees that if the north rules for eight years, the south will rule for eight years,” el-Rufai said.
“That is why I came out and said that after President Buhari h
as been in office for eight years, no northerner should run for office. Let the Southerners also have eight years.
“If you look at how I am, I don’t take anyone to work with me for the zone he came from. The eligibility I look at is if who is entrusted to the public will hold it properly.
“It has been said that I have loved the presidency since I was a minister in the FCT. This is nonsense. I do not want the Nigerian presidency. God gives power, whether you like it or not, if He wants it, He will give it to you, but I have never sought the presidency of Nigeria, no one can say I have ever sought it.”
However, many are quick to dismiss his view, as they claim that he was positioning himself as a running mate to the Ekiti state governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi who also is the chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum. It is not a secret that the APC is positioning its presidential ticket to either Southwest or Northeast. This could be either way, a presidential candidate from the Southwest and the running mate from the Northeast or vice versa.
For the Northeast, the ticket is either for the team of the Boss Mustapha running with the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Faahola tagged the continuation team. It could be either way. In the same manner, there is the Bola Ahmed Tinubu ticket with the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, who recently defected to the APC from the PDP. Either way, it contains both Christians and Muslims combinations.
In the PDP, the matter is not clear, but the governor of Sokoto state, Aminu Waziri Tambawul stands out clearly. He is the youngest in the race with loaded credentials both in the executive arm and legislature. Moreover, he is a lawyer. The Sokoto state governor looks most clear to fly the PDP presidential ticket. As a former speaker of the House of Representatives for four years, coupled with eight years as governor of Sokoto state. He remains the aspirant to be beaten. He is currently the Deputy Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum and also the chairman of the PDP governors. He is expected to take a running mate from the Southeast. As stated earlier, age is on his side. The reality is that he is carrying along with him on this project all the PDP governors. Take it or leave it, political pundits say that he is the aspirant to beat. In all these, the Southeast are merely jostling for the vice presidential position.
The former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar who flew the ticket of the PDP in 2019 is said to be interested in contesting the 2023 presidential election, at least his body language posits so. But age is not on his side. Not with the abysmal performance of the current presidency occasioned by old age and health challenges. Voters may be weary of going the way of an octogenarian.
One thing is very clear, the Buhari presidency may have demarketed the APC on account of rising cases of incompetency clothed by corruption, insecurity and other administrative malfeasance.
This is not to say that the pendulum may not swing in another direction as the permutations continue.
