By Ikechukwu Okaforadi
Ahead of the 2023 presidential election, the youth representative in the All Progressives Congress (APC) Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), Ismail Ahmed, has said the party has never placed so much emphasis on zoning but what he termed ‘balancing’.
Ahmed said this while fielding questions from journalists at the end of APC Youth Leaders and Stakeholders meeting held at the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja on Sunday.
According to him, in the 2014 primaries in which President Muhammadu Buhari emerged as APC Presidential candidate, five people contested with him and only two of them were from the same zone.
The lawyer said: “All the others were from different zones. Late Sam Nda Isaiah was from the North-central, Atiku Abubakar was from the North-East, Rochas Okorocha was from the South-East. Only Buhari and Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso were from the North-west. So the party did not sit down and zone particular positions.
“Even in 2014 convention that happened in August, that Chief John Odigie-Oyegyun became the National Chairman, if you remember there was no open committee on zoning but there was balancing internally. It was like an informal arrangement everybody knew about it.”
Ahmed said the zoning discussed at the meeting was not geographical but generational as they demanded foft certain positions to be conceded to the youths, both in government and party leadership.
“We want certain positions zoned to us as young people. And those positions once they are zoned, we are also craving the indulgence of the leadership of the party to allow us as young people and stakeholders to be able to decide the leadership of at least that wing of the party and so ditto for women.
“For other positions that we want to run if the National Executive Committee (NEC) by its wisdom decided to zone them to any place we have capable young people in every zone that can match and run for those positions.
“So we are expecting that the NEC would sit down at some point before the convention and decide where they want to balance positions. Whatever they decide we want to be part of that decision, one. Two, once that decision is taking wherever it is taking to we have capable young people in every zone, to represent us,” he insisted.
The Youth Leader said though his colleagues have not taken any decision or position on the issue of direct primaries but as members of APC, they love direct primaries because it is an opportunity for open inclusion.
“We have not as young people, decided on whether or not we support it. I think the National Assembly has done its job, is up to the President. Once the President signed it, it doesn’t matter what your opinion is,” he said.
Earlier, while addressing journalists, Deputy National Youth Leader, Bolaji Repete urged all members of the party with any form of discontent to take advantage of the National Reconciliation Committee headed by former Nasarawa State Governor, Abdulahi Adamu to air their grievances and seek adequate recompense rather than embarking on media war.
