APC says northern zone will have the positions the South had in the last eight years and vice versa
By Emma Ogbuehi
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has officially zoned its presidential ticket in the 2023 general election to the South.
This position was disclosed after an emergency meeting between APC governors and President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Tuesday.
The Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) after their meeting with President Buhari disclosed that the ruling party had agreed to alternate offices between the north and south in the forthcoming dispensation.
Speaking on behalf of the Forum, Kaduna Governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufa’i dispelled reports of division among the APC Governors.
He was emphatic that the party had reached an agreement on the zoning formula.
Explaining the newly agreed arrangements with regards to sharing positions in the party, El-Rufa’i said all offices that were occupied by northerners in the last eight years will go to the south and vice versa under the new arrangement.
“We have agreed a zoning formula for all the six geo-political zones. Essentially, northern zone will have the positions the South had in the last eight years and vice versa.
“It is a very simple, equitable and fair formula. We will now go back and consult at the zonal level and look at the positions that are available and the process of the convention preparation we started in earnest.
“So, by the grace of God, on the 26th of March, we would have done our national convention,” he said.
At the meeting were Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha and the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari.
Nineteen APC Governors were in attendance at the meeting, which took place at the Council Chambers.
Those in attendance included governors of Yobe, Ekiti, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Cross River, Kaduna, Lagos, Borno, Niger, Gombe, Osun, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Kwara, Kano, Imo, Kogi, Ogun, and Plateau states.
The outgoing Anambra Deputy Governor was also in attendance.