No zoning yet in mega party —ACN, CPC
MAY 5, 2013
National Publicity Secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Mr. Lai Mohammed
The coalition of opposition parties — All Progressives Congress — has denied reports that it had zoned its national chairmanship to the South-West.
Two leading parties in the merger – the Action Congress of Nigeria and the Congress for Progressive Change – said the merger committee had yet to discuss how positions would be shared in APC.
The National Publicity Secretary of the ACN, Mr. Lai Mohammed, in an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH said reports that portrayed APC as having adopted zoning were rumours.
He said, “I’m not aware that any office has been zoned to anywhere. As usual, the rumour mill in Nigeria is about the most developed in the whole world. It’s all speculation, pure and simple.
“I’m sufficiently relevant in APC to know about such if it exists. And I’m telling you that I don’t know. These speculations sell newspapers very fast but there is no truth in them. I’m a member of the merger committee and I’m saying that anybody that says APC has zoned the position of the national chairman to the South-West, or zoned any position at all, is lying. It is only a figment of their imagination. Let them say in what forum it was discussed. It is completely untrue.”
Similarly, the National Publicity Secretary of the CPC, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, said there was no zoning in APC.
He said “It’s just speculation. I’m telling you that no position has been zoned to any particular area or zone. As of this moment, it is not true; none of that has been decided. All these things are still happening in the realm of speculations.”
Fashakin however said APC could adopt zoning in the future based on the federal character principle recognised by the Nigerian Constitution.
He said, “In Nigeria, we have what we call federal character principle and the essence is to ensure that no region is disadvantaged in the distribution of the nation’s resources. The same understanding runs everywhere. You want to ensure that no particular area will be without a representation. It will be a consensus.
“When there is such consensus, everybody is happy and abides with it. If you like, you can call that zoning. But it must be born out of a consensus.”
There were reports last week that APC, which had recognised the agitation for the presidency from the North and the South-East, was considering choosing a national chairman from the South-West.
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