Don’t endanger national unity, stability, South East groups warn PDP, APC

Presidential tickets:
• Stakeholders caution ruling party against unpopular candidate
• Northern youths unveil APC’s ‘only chance’ to Aso Rock
• Electoral Act not enough, say Falana, Utomi, Banire

Nigerians of southeast extraction, yesterday, stepped up calls on the major political parties to field presidential candidates from the region, warning that doing otherwise could jeopardise national unity.

A pan Igbo think-tank and an affiliate of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Plateau State, Izu-Umunna Cultural Association, insisted the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) must zone its presidential ticket to the southeast.

It made this known in a statement signed by its president, Dr. Ugo Pat Ihekuna, and secretary, Dr. Elvis Chukwu.

The group argued: “Why jettison this policy (zoning) when it is the turn of the southeast to produce a presidential candidate? PDP should instead tread the path of honour, justice, equity and fairness by adhering to its time-tested policy of zoning as enshrined in its constitution.”

It noted: “By political history and reality in Nigeria, the southeast is the only region that has never produced an executive president/executive leader, save for the very brief period (six months) the late Major General Aguiyi-Ironsi was in power.”

SIMILARLY, apex youth group in the southeast, Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), urged PDP to rotate its zoning policy in favour of the region.

In a statement by President General, Goodluck Egwu Ibem, the group said it was making the call for the purposes of “equity, justice and fair play.”

It said: “People of the southeast have majority shares in the party bought by Dr. Alex Ekwueme and other Igbo PDP chieftains who were foundation pillars. We did not stop at only buying the party’s shares, our people also voted for the party en masse during general elections.

“Some of the people in the party, today, were not there at the formation stage. Those that started the foundation of any building are the true owners of the building, not those who came later to bring few gallons of paints.”

ON his part, a frontline architect and estate developer, Alex Chukwuemeka Obiechina, decried foot-dragging by APC and PDP over zoning of the presidency to the region.

Obiechina, who spoke to The Guardian, yesterday, declared that as far as Nigeria’s geopolitical stability is concerned, zoning remains sacrosanct.

He said obvious attempt to deny the southeast opportunity to produce the next president would further endanger its unity and stability.

He noted that any of the two major parties that offer the zone its presidential ticket should be given massive votes.

Obiechina, who contested the 2003 and 2011 governorship of Enugu State on the platform of PDP, said it was based on his belief that zoning is a necessary unwritten principle that he shunned pressure to join the race for the 2023 poll.

He said: “Even though my mandate was truncated by PDP during the primaries in 2011, I believe 2023 is the turn of Enugu East Senatorial Zone. Nobody from my zone, Enugu West, should even express an intention, not to talk of buying nomination forms.”

THIS came as a group, All Progressives Congress (APC) Youth Development and Solidarity Forum (APC-YDSF), cautioned APC against fielding an unpopular candidate at its forthcoming primaries.

The group, led by Mr. Tobias Ogbeh, during a rally in Abuja, told the Senator Abdullahi Adamu-led National Working Committee (NWC): “There would be unpleasant consequences, electorally, should the party deny the best candidate the party flag, under the guise of zoning or consensus that fails to meet the yearnings of masses in 2023.”

The group noted: “The international community and other concerned stakeholders are keenly watching to see what will become of the APC.”

MEANWHILE, Unified Northern Nigeria Youths’ Forum said Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, remains APC’s only chance to winning the 2023 presidential election.

Convener of the group, Mohammed Danlami, who spoke at a gathering in Lokoja, urged youths in Kogi to join in intensifying call on Emefiele to run.

He said: “We, in the Unified Northern Nigeria Youths’ Forum, have realised that what Nigeria needs now is a detribalised Nigerian, who is very competent, has capacity, and is ready to transform all sectors of the economy.

“We have realised that of President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointees, no one has contributed so immensely to the success of Nigeria like Emefiele.”

IN a related development, rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, Chairman, National Consultative Front, Pat Utomi and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Muiz Banire, among others, yesterday, called for the prosecution of election offenders to strengthen electoral processes in the country.

They regretted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is yet to be empowered on electronic voting, saying the traditional means of voting has remained a discouragement to the electorate.

They spoke in Lagos during unveiling of the registration portal of the ‘40 Million Ballots Movement,’ packaged by Youths on the Street Initiative and founded in 2017 by Comrade Kennedy Iyere.

Specifically, Falana said signing of the electoral bill to law is not enough, as the country has had electoral laws alongside impunities because there were no sanctions.

He said: “Unless you do that, unscrupulous people will continue to make a mockery of the electoral processes. That is why we must insist that from 2023, all these issues must be addressed.

“Just like INEC said, some people are involved in double registration. If this is deliberate, then it is a crime.

“We are demanding that we want electronic voting. INEC now has the power to adopt it, and there should be no reason why we shouldn’t do that. Kaduna state has had electronic voting twice in their local council elections. Let us demand from INEC that we want to have electronic voting, so that we can stay in our houses and vote instead of queuing under the sun for hours.”