VON DG blames PDP for confusion over Southern Presidency in 2023

Mr. Osita Okechukwu, a founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said on Monday that Nigerians should hold the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) responsible if the presidency in 2023 is not zoned to the south.

He said APC has been monitoring the PDP’s hunger to feed on President Muhammadu Buhari’s 12 million vote bank with bated breath, noting that as a political party, APC must fine-tune its general election strategy.

Okechukwu, who is also the Director General (DG) of Voice of Nigeria (VON), was responding to Middle Belt Forum, PANDEF, Afenifere, and Ohanaeze’s rejection of the APC’s intention to zone the 2023 presidency to the south.

He believes that PDP’s eagerness to break into Buhari‘s 12 million vote bank explains APC’s hesitation.

During the last Greater Nigeria Conference (GNC) in Abuja, the heads of regional socio-cultural groups MBF, PANDEF, Afenifere, and Ohanaeze accused APC of playing hanky-panky with the zoning of the presidency to the south.

But, speaking during an interaction with journalists in Abuja, Okechukwu stated: “Although one is not holding the brief of our distinguished national Chairman, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, one’s little understanding is that the leadership of our great party, is watching closely the desperation and antics of our elder sister political party, the PDP.

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“They want to capture power by all means, indeed using Machiavellian tactics. We all know that PDP is famished, thirsty and desperate to win the Presidency in 2023. They loathe the loss of their slogan ‘Share the Money’ through their absence from power at the center for seven going to eight years.”

Explaining further why PDP should be blamed, Okechukwu said it was unconscionable and despicable that the opposition party should breach the zoning convention, which helped in no small measure to unite and harmonise the country.

“PDP is aware that President Buhari will not be on the ballot in 2023, therefore, for them there is a void to fill. They must have reasoned that the Buhari’s Vote Bank would be up for grabs if they go north.

”PDP’s calculation is a desperate one, and selfish to the extent that they breached their own constitution and their age-long die-hard supporters in the South, especially the Southeast,” he stated.

Okechukwu also explained why the ruling party was shifting away from implementing the party’s earlier zoning format of swapping offices between north and south, as declared by Governor Nasir el-Rufai before the March 26 National Convention.

“To be frank, my take on the matter is that the swap option is still open, because some of us from the South are still arguing that we have dormant votes, especially Igbo votes which will augment APC members’ votes from the north.

“However, if at the end of the day the zoning fails, we should blame PDP’s desperation, because we have been advocating a repeat of the Chiefs Obasanjo/Falae; Yaradua/Buhari and Buhari/Atiku models of 1999, 2007 and 2019 models.”

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