A coalition of stakeholders from the North-East region in the ruling All Progressives Congress have asked the party to pick the running mate of the party’s presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, from the North Central.
The stakeholders said this would not only enable the party to win the 2023 presidential election but help bring to the fore the party’s respect for fairness, equity and justice.
Speaking to journalists after a meeting in Abuja on Sunday, the National Coordinator of North East APC Stakeholders Coalition, Abba Suleiman, described the demand by its counterparts from the North West to be considered for the vice presidential candidate position as a “gross display of insensitivity to the relevance of other regions in the scheme of things in the party”.
He said, “The North West Region had been within the corridor of power in the last seven years of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, and for such demand to be made indeed speak volume of gross insensitivity.
“It is the considered view of stakeholders in the North East that it would only be fair and just if the vice-presidential slot goes to the North Central, given the numerous contributions of the region to the growth and development of the party.
“The stakeholders must come to terms with the fact that the North Central region hasn’t had a shot at the highest level of governance since the return of democracy in 1999. This time has presented that unique opportunity that must be utilized in the party’s best interest.
“The North-West APC Stakeholders must also realize that the overarching objective of the party is to secure a landslide victory at the polls, and if that is indeed the case, would it make any sense if a region that has been represented adequately in the last ten years, would also demand the vice-presidential slot”.
“Unless the stakeholders of our great party in the North West want us to believe that the North Central is not deserving of producing the vice-presidential candidate hence the demand for the vice-presidential slot.
“The stakeholders of the APC in the North East wish to use this medium to call on the leadership of our great party to ensure justice and fairness by providing that the vice presidential slot is given to the North Central.”