The All Progressives Congress (APC) appears to have reached
consensus on a zoning formula that will see to the swapping of offices held
between the north and south.
By the latest development, all offices that were occupied by
northerners in the last eight years will go to the south and vice versa.
They settled for this system after a meeting between
President Muhammadu Buhari and 19 governors elected under the APC at the
Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday.
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.
Speaking while briefing correspondents on the outcome of the
meeting, Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State revealed that an agreement had
been reached on zoning formula.
He said: “We have agreed a zoning formula for all the six
geo-political zones. Essentially, northern zone will have the positions the
south have 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.”
The 18 governors in attendance at the meeting taking place
at the Council Chambers are from Yobe, Ekiti, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Cross River,
Kaduna, Lagos, Borno, Niger, Gombe, Osun, Kebbi, Anambra dep, Nasarawa, Kwara,
Kano, Imo, Kogi, Ogun, and Plateau states.
The outgoing deputy governor of Anambra state is also in
attendance.
Kebbi Governor, Atiku Bagudu also spoke to the media on the
latest development saying, “we are at the Presidential Villa this afternoon to
meet with Mr. President, President Muhammadu Buhari to among others to discuss
party issues and the in-coming convention. But before then, we collectively
expressed our delight and congratulated Mr. President on the 3.4% GDP growth
that was recorded for 2021, which surpassed all estimates both domestic and
international.
“We also noted and thank him for the major transformational
projects that are taking place in all the six geo-political zones of the
country. These are infrastructure projects and inclusiveness programmes.”