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From Geoffrey Anyanwu, Enugu
Ohanaeze Ndigbo yesterday hailed the zoning template of the All Progressives Congress (APC), commending the party for zoning its presidential ticket to the South.
The apex Igbo sociocultural organisation, said the APC had, by its zoning pattern shown the way for other political parties to follow.
In a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Chief Alex Ogbonnia, Ohanaeze recapitulated that the concept of zoning of political offices was first introduced in the Second Republic by the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) as a way of managing the diverse inter-ethnic tensions.
Ohanaeze expressed the hope that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would emulate the APC by zoning its presidential ticket to the South.
While hailing President Muhammadu Buhari and the entire leadership of the APC, Ohanaeze stressed that there was no half way to justice and equity; and that “injustice is an open wound, only truth can heal it.
“Therefore, the South East of Nigeria are very confident that the APC will follow the search for political stability, unity, progress, equity and justice to its logical conclusion. Furthermore, Nigerians should note that justice and truth are like gold; buried one hundred feet below the sea level for one hundred years, becomes more valuable when unearthed. So, there is always a profound sense of dignity when one embarks on the right course.”
Further on zoning the organisation noted that “during a National Constitutional Conference, following the annulment of the June 12 1993 presidential election, a number of prominent leaders such as Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Chief Solomon Lar, Chief Bola Ige, Alh Abubakar Rimi, etc advocated rotating the presidency between the North and the South and specifically among the six geopolitical zones (north-central, north-east, north-west, south-east, south-south, and south-west).
“The zoning principle attained a healthy climax with the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) led government, under Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. During the Obasanjo democratic era, zoning of political party offices was also displayed publicly to the admiration of all the participants.
