From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
A chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Osita Okechukwu, has commended the party’s northern states’ governors and political leaders for strengthening Nigeria’s unity by endorsing power shift to the South.
The Voice of Nigeria (VON) director general further noted that by the gesture, and principled response to building nationhood; the governors and political leaders have thoroughly shamed the leaders of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who, out of desperation for power, attempted to harvest from ethno-religious fault lines in the polity.
Okechukwu also added that by their unholy attempt to harvest from primordial sentiments, PDP has not only breached rotation convention in its constitution, but wittingly or unwittingly dug its electoral grave in 2023 presidential election.
“It’s my considered view that the sophisticated northern voters, who voted for the late MKO Abiola and former president Olusegun Obasanjo, will, in 2023, vote for APC presidential candidate and shame PDP,” Okechukwu said.
In a statement he issued in Abuja, the VON director general said the northern APC governors and political leaders deserve commendation for ceding power to the South; hence hoisting Nigeria’s unity flag and advancing the frontiers of democracy.
He equally contended that the decision to rightfully rotate power to the South, the northern leaders have upheld the progressive bent of APC and exposed the perfidy and opportunistic tendencies of PDP.
Okechukwu said: “I am very elated. I commend APC governors and political leaders of northern belt for their profound patriotic statement, which aligns with Mr. President’s idea of consensus.
“By this singular decision, they have killed three birds with one stone. One, they hoisted the National Unity Flag by their position that it is the turn of the South to produce the president in 2023. This is about the loftiest way to fly the National Unity Flag at a critical time, when our dear country is highly polarised and in cliff-hanger.
“I must add that this is national healing balm and bridge-building pedigree of APC governors and political leaders of the northern belt, which they anchored on the doctrine of progressivism.”
He further noted that the northern governors and political leaders from APC invoked the progressive philosophy of APC, by placing national interest above parochial interest.
Okechukwu noted that those words on the marble as contained in their statement represent new credo for APC in its march towards building on the foundation for national unity, stability, peace and prosperity, which has been laid by President Muhammadu Buhari.
To be exact, he described the action of northern APC governors and leaders as the most noble way to expose PDP for what it represents as not only a perfidious congregation of political unconscionable men, whose only interest and motto is – ‘share the money’.
“Nigerians have now seen that the dollar rain, cash and carry primary that produced former vice president Atiku Abubakar as the PDP presidential candidate was a pyrrhic victory that has nothing in store for the new Nigerian of our dreams.
“I am inclined to believe that Atiku’s victory is pyrrhic going by Greek mythology, and may not lead to ultimate victory, especially with the patriotic stance of his northern brothers,” he said.
Contrasting PDP’s opportunistic stance with APC’s equitable nationalism, Okechukwu pooh-poohed Atiku’s ambivalent politics, saying: “Is it not paradoxical that the same Atiku, who willingly defected from PDP to APC in 2014 on the pretext of protesting breach of zoning by former president Goodluck Jonathan and benefitted from the zoning convention in 2019 should deliberately deploy huge resources to breach the same zoning convention?”
While congratulating the APC northern governors, political leaders and President Buhari for being true Nigerians, Okechukwu declared that Nigerians have seen the difference between those who want a better Nigeria and CarpetBaggers who want to trade with the nation’s future.