A prominent member of the Peoples Democratic Party and former Commissioner for Information in Edo State, Mr Kazeem Afegbua, has said only politicians who are ruled by selfishness are dismissing the zoning of the Presidency in the country.
Afegbua said in a statement on Sunday that such politicians are clinging unto the selfish argument that zoning is unconstitutional.
Afegbua faulted the claim by such politicians saying zoning is constitutional and is indeed the same thing as Federal Character which is boldly captured in the constitution.
He said that zoning or federal character remains the only explanation for the practice where the President and the Vice President are not selected from the same zone or part of the country.
He said, “For selfish and egocentric reasons, I have read some aspirants talking about the absence of zoning in the Nigeria Constitution. In order to serve their selfish end and contest the 2023 presidential election against the run of play, they have resorted to making references to the 1999 constitution to support their weak argument against zoning of political offices.
“It must be stated unequivocally that zoning means the same thing as Federal Character, which is expressly captured in the 1999 constitution. The federal character talks about political balancing of positions and appointments, which is the same thing as zoning. Zoning means “divide into or assign to zones”, positions and appointments whether by way of election or appointment.
“For those who are declaring that there is no zoning in the constitution, why has it been the practice that each time a candidate emerges from the North, his Vice Presidential candidate comes from the South, and vice-versa. The Senate President is also zoned to another geopolitical zone, ditto for the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, and even the Secretary of Government of the Federation.
“If there is no zone, these positions could have been concentrated in one geopolitical zone, but for that Federal Character provision in the constitution, which is similar to zoning, we have made it a point of duty to observe zoning.”
He said that it is impossible to run Nigeria without an adherence to the principle of zoning and power sharing given the nation’s diversities.
He called on the media to “educate Nigerians on the therapeutic effect of zoning and applying the doctrine of Federal character which has been in place since the independence of Nigeria.”
He said that the principle of the amalgamation of the North and the South made it compulsory for rotation of the presidency between the North and the South.
“The principle of Amalgamation which was consummated in 1914 is very clear and unambiguous in rotating the leadership of the country between the North and South.
“Rather than continue to dwell on the impropriety of turning logic on its head by the political ambition of our brothers from the North, it will make for good judgment for them to bury their ambition and support the Southern zone to produce credible candidates for the 2023 General election.” He added
