‘Zone ticket to South to retain presidency in 2023,’ Akeredolu tells APC

The Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, once again, warned the All Progressives Congress (APC) against presenting a northern candidate in the 2023 presidential election.

Akeredolu issued the warning in a Facebook post on Thursday.

The governor had issued a similar warning last month and argued that the selection of a Northern candidate would lead to a crisis in the party ahead of the 2023 general elections.

He insisted on the zoning of the APC presidential ticket to the South next year.

Akeredolu said the agreement reached when APC micro-zoned the party’s offices during its national convention must be adhered to.

The governor said: “APC must work to retain power. We must rotate power to retain power !!! Rotate to the South. …Shikena (That’s all).

“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.

READ ALSO: Akeredolu warns APC over zoning to mitigate crisis

“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 conduct of elections and succession to political offices, we must do nothing which is 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 taking 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 with 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.”

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