A former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Bamidele Faparusi, has said it will be hypocritical for the National leadership of the All Progressives Congress to describe zoning as an inconsequential factor in selecting a candidate for the July 14 governorship election in Ekiti State.
Faparusi, who is a governorship aspirant and leader of the pro-zoning advocates, said the only way the party can convince Nigerians about its much touted belief in fairness and justice was to ensure that the governorship ticket was exclusively zoned to the south senatorial district of Ekiti.
He said the party can’t afford to be applying zoning based on convenience, noting that it tactically applied the political factor in the recent Anambra governorship election by picking Dr. Tony Nwoye from the North senatorial district.
“Even in the last presidential poll, the party was explicit that the ticket was zoned to the North even when it was not enshrined in the 1999 constitution. This gave President Muhammadu Buhari, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso the right to vie for the ticket, which the present President clinched.
“The party was not oblivious of the over concentration of the presidential power in the south, following the death of the late President Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua and the zoning was devised to bridge the gap.
“With this, it was evident that zoning was an issue in APC and whoever trivializes it in Ekiti election must be a hypocrite”, he said.
Speaking in Ado Ekiti on Friday, Faparusi branded those canvassing to the party to discountenance zoning, as hypocrites.
“Most of them were benefactors of the zoning arrangements in the past. In 2007, zoning was applied and some people benefited from it .
“In various elections that had been held , either at the governorship, senatorial , House of Representatives and House of Assembly levels had had imprints of zoning. It has become a serious issue in Ekiti now and whoever treats such with disdain will have himself to blame”, he warned.
However, Faparusi appealed to the aspirants to stop the campaign of calumny on the party’s platforms, saying the issue was gradually assuming a dangerous dimension that may end up consuming the party.
Faparusi said the APC platforms and social media should be veritable sources to launder the party’s image and not where to destroy one another in a brazen manner just because of struggle for power.
“I believe Ekiti APC should be more united than ever now. We have a common , which is to reclaim the state from the stranglehold of the PDP and rescue our dear state from ruin under Governor Ayodele Fayose.
“Rather than perceiving Fayose as a common enemy we must fight, some of our members decided to bury their heads in the sand by feigning ignorance about this unassailable fact just because of struggle for
power.
“But the only way we can all sung victory songs in the end is by forgetting our differences as a family and collectively resist aggressors that are prowling to devour our commonwealth”, he said.
