Former president Olusegun Obasanjo said on Saturday that zoning was alive and kicking in the Peoples Democratic Party.
He allayed fears that the PDP had jettisoned zoning and other forms of rotational methods of selecting its candidates for specific purposes.
Obasanjo spoke at the grand finale of the PDP presidential campaign held at the Eagle Sqaure in Abuja.
The former president spoke as President Goodluck Jonathan again vowed to contain the incidence of terrorism and violence as well as check their masterminds in the country.
“Federal character, zoning and other forms of rotation are alive and kicking in our party,” Obasanjo said to the audience that comprised party faithful and international election observers.
Zoning has remained a knotty issue in the polity since the death of former President Umaru Yar’Adua.
While some politicians like former Minister of Finance, Mallam Adamu Ciroma, canvassed that a northerner should replace Yar’Adua as the PDP standard-bearer for the forthcoming presidential election, many others opposed the idea.
The former president said zoning, Federal Character and other forms of rotation of public offices would remain for a long time to come.
“I see the Federal Character and zoning and the rotation of position in the PDP existing beyond my life time,” he said.
The former president and chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, said zoning would remain well after Jonathan’s tenure in office.
“I don’t know who will be president after Goodluck Jonathan, but I can guess from which section of the country the successor will come from,” he said.
The former president said zoning could only be abandoned when unity, stability and trust had been established among the different sections of the country.
He said it was only then that “performance and track records will be dominant in selecting people for various offices.”
Obasanjo said the recent resort to sectionalism and ethnic sentiments was not only unpatriotic but also uncalled for.
“It can ignite uncontrollable passions and impact on the sacrifices that others have made in shedding their blood and going to prison,” he said.
Obasanjo urged political leaders to desist from taking the nation on “a perishable journey” because there was more that bound the country together than those that separated it.
Obasanjo said last Sunday he was mandated as chairman of PDP BoT to dialogue with former president Ibrahim Babangida, Aliyu Mohammed and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar on the controversy that ensued over zoning of the presidency in the party.
He said the impression was that PDP had jettisoned zoning and cancelled all forms or rotation.
“I’m an apostle of Federal Character. I can’t preach anything else. An unexpected situtation must be understood for what it was. We are the only party that enshrines Federal Character in our constitution through zoning,” Obasanjo said.
Obasanjo appealed to political leaders to put the country first.
“Our duties and our responsibilities must go side by side with our demands.
“On two occasions, I have had opportunities and worked for my successors. I never brought ethnic or religious considerations. I took the route of national unity and the road to stability. I worked for Shehu Shagari and Umaru Yar Adua to succeed me, not because they were Hausa/Fulani, but because they could strengthen Nigeria’s unity. A leader must lead, no matter whose ox is gored,” he said.
Obasanjo said all Nigerians were joined together by a common identity.
Obasanjo said the PDP had set out to achieve that national dream because the manifesto of the party was clear about it.
He said Jonathan’s decision to run for only one term was a sacrifice that must be commended.
“It’s statesmanship, we should applaud it and commend him. Nigeria should reward him and venerate him. Let us encourage him to take more good steps by voting for him as the fourth elected president for the purpose of achieving our common identity and Nigerian dream,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jonathan, who warned that time was up for “senior” members of the society who were behind terrorism, noted, however, that the act was a global trend that was not limited to Nigeria.
The President said the protection of lives and property was the first responsibility of government.
Noting that no responsible government would joke with security in the name of politics, Jonathan said cases of politically motivated violence would not be isolated from other acts of terrorism and criminality.
As a result, he warned that politicians and others perpetrating electoral violence would face the full wrath of the law.
“I want to appeal to our political leaders and Nigerians in general to eschew violence.
“I call on our youths to not let themselves be used by people who have sent their children abroad or locked up their children in mansions and ask you to go and main and kill people because any responsible government will not play with security even in the name of politics.
“Politics does not mean that you have to carry knives and cut people, politics does not mean that you will have to carry fire and burn houses and property; politics does mean that you are going to beat up people, we totally reject it and the security agencies are going to deal with any situation as it deserves.
“There will be no sanctuary for criminals in Nigeria, and if you get involved, be ready to face the law,” Jonathan said.
The President also cast doubts on the capacity of his opponent in the presidential election to take the country to the Promise Land.
Assessing the recommendations they have proffered as solutions to the country’s challenges, Jonathan noted that they had nothing to offer.
He said, “Our opponents have done a very good job of reminding the populace of the challenges that are still facing the country but many of the solutions they proffered are hopelessly inadequate.
“Some of them seem they want to turn back the hands of the clock and take us back to methods that have failed repeatedly because they have not really assimilated investors demand and the new global focus on good governance.”
He went ahead to reaffirm his determination to fight corruption, create jobs and address infrastructural challenges, among other intentions.
In a related development, the city of Abuja and its environs witnessed an unprecedented number of security men and women following the event.
The sign that the security operatives would not leave anything to chance emerged on Friday evening when all roads leading to Eagle Square, venue of the rally were cordoned off. Stern-looking security officers took over the roads and directed motorists to take other routes. This caught some workers unawares as there was no prior announcement to the effect that roads, especially those from Wuse to the NNPC headquarters, and others around the Federal Secretariat would be sealed off. By Saturday morning, even roads that were hitherto left un-sealed, had been taken over by security agents.
This affected movements of thousands of people who came for the event, including those going to work.
By Olamilekan Lartey, Shola Fabiyi and Ihuoma Chiedozie
Courtesy Of: Punch
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