Rotimi Akeredolu, the governor of Ondo State, has issued a stern message to the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership, requesting that the party announce its position on zoning its presidential candidate for 2023.
According to Akeredolu, the country's next president must come from the south.
This, according to the governor, is why the party's national chairmanship position was assigned to the north.
He slammed the APC leadership's failure to tell hopefuls that the presidential election in 2023 would be held in the south, saying that "it will be hypocritical for anyone to argue against rotation at this time."
While adhering to the spirit and letter of the laws governing elections and political succession, Akeredolu argued that political expediency dictates that "we must do nothing that is capable of tilting the delicate balance against the established arrangement that guarantees peace and promotes trust."
During the recently concluded convention, the party's leadership embraced the principle of rotational representation, according to the governor. In a statement on Tuesday, Akeredolu said, "This
is the time for the party's leaders to make a definitive statement, devoid of equivocation, on the pattern of succession." According
to Akeredolu, the APC should limit disagreements to an area for possible micromanagement, citing the need to 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 Ondo helmsman declared emphatically.
He emphasized that the APC leadership should have no trouble making such a declaration, just as it did when it set various rates for the purchase of forms.
He also stated that the announcement on the presidential ticket's zoning to the south must be made as soon as possible, using the concept of Federal Character as contained in the 1999 Constitution.