By Olusegun Olanrewaju
“APC must work to retain power. We must rotate power to retain power. Rotate to the south. Shikena (finish),” these were the words of the Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, over the presidential ticket gambit of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The ruling party will between Monday, June 6 and 8, converge at the Eagles Square in Abuja, to pick its presidential candidate.

Speculations are rife that the APC may pick a northern presidential candidate, following the outcome of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) convention which on May 29 picked a former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, as its flagbearer for the 2023 presidential election.

One of the strong northern contenders for the APC ticket is the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, who is from the Northeast, the same geo-political zone as Atiku.

Other northern contenders in the presidential race include Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, Jigawa State Governor, Mohammed Badaru, and former Zamfara State governor, Senator Ahmed Yerima.

The presidential aspirants from the south include the Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo; the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi.

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They also include Pastor Tunde Bakare, the Cross River State Governor, Prof Ben Ayade; his Ekiti State counterpart, Dr Kayode Fayemi, an ex-Minister of State, Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, and former President of the Senate, Senator Ken Nnamani.

Also on the list are Senator Ajayi Borroffice; the only female aspirant, B. Uju Kennedy Ohanenye, Pastor Nicholas Felix Nwagbo; former Speaker of Representative, Dimeji Bankole; former Minister of Information, Chief Ikeobasi Mokelu and Mr Tein Jack Rich.

They also include a former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; a former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio; former Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu; a former Imo State governor, Senator Rochas Okorocha and former Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun.

President Muhammadu Buhari had on Wednesday met with the 22 governors elected on the platform of the APC to seek their consent to allow him to pick his successor.

But on his Facebook page yesterday, Akeredolu said the APC should give its presidential ticket to the south to retain power in 2023.

He said he and his colleagues at the Southern Nigeria Governors’ Forum believe that power should be zoned to the south.
This is coming less than 24 hours after the Cross River State Governor, Prof Ben Ayade, also maintained the same stand that it was the turn of the south to produce the next president.

Akeredolu, who is the Chairman of Security and Compliance for the June 6 APC convention, charged the party to work hard to retain power by rotating the Presidency to the South.

He said the agreement reached when APC micro-zoned party’s offices during its National Convention must be adhered to.

The statement read, “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.

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“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 the conduct of elections and succession to political offices, we must do nothing 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 make 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 pronouncements 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 about 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.”

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•Consensus deadlock persists in govs’ camp

Meanwhile, the meetings held so far by the state governors on the consensus candidate to fly the party’s flag in the 2023 presidential election have ended in deadlock, for the second day.

Following Buhari’s directive, the governors have held two meetings on Wednesday and Thursday with another expected to be held tomorrow (Saturday).

It was learnt that after Wednesday’s deadlock, the governors continued on Thursday with a new consideration to push for one of their colleagues as a likely successor to Buhari.

“Many of them agreed that it is an idea that can be tried. The argument was centred on a governor succeeding Buhari, for now. But southern governors are talking about power rotation. When Akeredolu and other southern governors asked them to consider the unity of Nigeria, the northern governors proposed that two governors from the South and North should be considered,” the source said.