From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Strong indications have emerged that the All Progressives Congress (APC) may have zoned the position of the national chairman to the North.
The party may also microzone the position to the North East and North Central since the North West already has the presidency.
If the plan scales through, it would foreclose possibility of the north producing presidential candidate in 2023.
A member of the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee told Daily Sun that though the party may have dismissed the speculated zoning list in circulation, initial resolution has been taken on the national chairman and presidential candidate.
The permutations for the 2023 presidential election has been a subject of intense political discussion and debate with certain conspiracy theories claiming that it will be counterproductive for the ruling party to zone the ticket to the South with the opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) likely to settle for the North.
Perhaps, acting on this script, certain chieftains of the party majorly from the North Central and North East had already indicated interest to contest the party’s vacant national chairmanship position.
Heavyweights like the immediate past governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura and former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff, have directly or indirectly indicated interest to run for the position.
“APC is a party built on fairness, equity and justice. As it is now, there will be no reflection of these dictum in zoning the presidential ticket to the North having done eight years under President Buhari. Therefore, be rest assured that the North will produce the next national chairman unless there is a last minute change in decision,” the Caretaker Committee member said.
Only recently, APC leaders from the North Central zone had passionately pleaded with the national leadership of the ruling party to zone the presidential ticket to the Southern part of the country.
The convener, Kassim Muhammad, had urged the leadership to microzone the national chairman of the party to the North Central, appealing to Kogi Governor, Yahaya Bello, to shelve his presidential ambition and support the South.
“What the APC needs at the moment is a committed, energrtic, dynamic and experienced party man to pilot the affairs of the party, and we are glad the Yobe State govetnor is doing same.
“However, as the party prepares for a convention that will usher in democratically elected nationai executives, we the North Central Council are appealing to our leader, President Buhari and the APC governors as well as key stakeholders of the party across the country to consider the North Central for the position of the national chairman.
“The reasons for this agitation stemmed from the fact that the North West as presently constituted has a sitting president who is still left with two years to complete his eight years tenure in office.
“The North East is presently occupying the position of the Senate president and the only geo-poitical zone in the North left is the North Central and for fairness and equity, the national chairmanship should be zoned to the North Central.”