2023 Presidency: Ngige says APC leaders will speak on zoning next year

Whereas some founding members left the occasion throughout the construct as much as the 2019 common election, Ngige mentioned 9 among the many founding fathers are nonetheless within the ruling occasion.

In response to Punch, the minister mentioned these nonetheless within the occasion will converse up on the proper time to clear the air on whether or not or not there was a zoning settlement on the 2023 presidential ticket.

He mentioned, “9 of us are nonetheless within the APC. I can’t converse on the difficulty now. Most of us agreed that we’re going to converse subsequent 12 months — from (Bola) Tinubu to Chief (Bisi) Akande, Chief Olusegun Osoba, myself; Tom Ikimi, Yusuf Ali; Ogbonnaya Onu; Danjuma Goje and Senator Wamakko.”

“We are going to converse subsequent 12 months after we’d have carried out the APC caucus assembly on it. Caucus will agree that we converse on it publicly.”

Just lately, there have been claims throughout the occasion that there was an alleged gentleman’s settlement in 2014 to zone presidency to the South after the expiration of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure in 2023.

However whereas asserting his interest to join the 2023 presidential race, a member of the occasion and former governor of Zamfara State, Senator Sani Yerima just lately claimed there was no settlement to zone the presidential ticket to the South.

Owing to claims like this, there have been fears that APC leaders within the North would possibly renege on the alleged 2014 gentleman’s understanding on zoning.

In response to experiences, the latest name by the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola on the APC to honour the ‘zoning settlement’ was made because of the perceived plan by northern APC leaders to backtrack on the settlement.

Fashola had mentioned that “The structure that units up the local weather of political events’ formation doesn’t prescribe zoning. The reality is that what makes an settlement specification is the honour through which it’s made, not whether or not it’s written.

‘‘If it was written there can be no court docket instances of breach of contract as a result of it’s a doc that’s written and signed that goes to court docket. However the personal settlement you make along with your brother and sister will be breached, (it) is honour.”

In a separate tv interview, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi whereas answering a query on the zoning subject corroborated Fashola’s remark saying, “It’s a troublesome query for me to answer. I simply consider that the zoning which was carried out within the North and South needs to be revered, similar to Fashola mentioned.”

It might be recalled that in 2014, three main political events and aggrieved members of different events got here collectively to type the APC.

The primary events embody; the Motion Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the All Nigeria Peoples Occasion (ANPP) and the Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) whereas a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the Peoples Democratic Occasion (PDP) later joined the occasion.