Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, and a host of leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, from the South have thrown their weight behind rotating power to the South in 2023 as canvassed by Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, SAN, on Monday.
They said doing otherwise would hurt APC’s long term interest and the nation as well.
In an interview with reporters, Fashola had urged the APC to respect the zoning agreement reached during the formation of the party for the 2023 elections.
Fashola spoke amid reports that some APC members were plotting to thwart the arrangement for power shift between North and South, and retain the presidency in the North after President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term.
“The truth is that what makes an agreement spectacular is the honour in which it is made not whether it is written,” Fashola had said during the press meeting.
Concurring, Amaechi, who spoke during a Channels TV programme on Sunday night, said the arrangement, which is usually between the North and South, should remain the same.
Asked if the APC would give the South-East a chance for the presidency in 2023, Amaechi responded: “It is a difficult question for me to respond to. I just believe that the zoning which was done in the North and South should be respected, just like Fashola said.”
The minister, who is from Rivers State, also said it was “a bit too early” to have conversations about contesting for president either in 2023 or afterwards.
“The best conversation to have now is how to deliver on the railway, maritime as it pertains to the responsibility assigned to me by the president,” the minister said.
Amacehi and Fashola’s views on APC respecting its agreement on zoning were re-echoed by some Southern APC leaders and stalwarts.
Those who backed the move include: Chief Chekwas Okorie; former Military governor of Rivers and Ogun states, Group Captain Sam Ewang (retd); former member of the House of Representatives, Eseme Eyiboh; APC United Kingdom Leader, Prince Ade Omole; and a National Democratic Coalition, NADECO chieftain, Linus Okoroji.
They spoke as the Yoruba Council of Elders, YCE, urged the South-West geo-political zone to forget about the presidency in 2023 and focus on restructuring because a ‘’toothless presidency’’ is of no use.
