2023: N/East, S/West and the presidency

Recently, a political group of 10 Northern APC organisations called upon the All Progressives Congress (APC) to present a ‘new young face’ from the northeast as its vice-presidential candidate and zone the presidency to the Southwest in 2023 presidential election. One interesting thing about the politics of 2023 presidency is the massive campaign in the […]

Recently, a political group of 10 Northern APC organisations called upon the All Progressives Congress (APC) to present a ‘new young face’ from the northeast as its vice-presidential candidate and zone the presidency to the Southwest in 2023 presidential election.

One interesting thing about the politics of 2023 presidency is the massive campaign in the northeast to have the vice presidency zoned to the geo-political zone, instead of the presidency, though, it is mostly an APC affair.

For example, the 10 Northern APC groups’ spokesman, Musa Aminu Azare, said in a press release sent to local and international journalists, that for fairness and to be politically correct for the APC, the southwest should produce the next president while the northeast should get the slot of the vice president.

Why is the group so much concerned about APC presenting a new young face as its vice-presidential candidate?  The answer is anybody’s guess- the APC must play new cards to convince most Nigerians.

For instance, The APC group of 10 cautioned that if the party fails to use this opportunity for a paradigm shift in producing a young man from the northeast as its vice presidential candidate, the PDP and its coalition will have an easy ride because they will utilise that opportunity and the poor reward system in the APC led central government to campaign against the party in 2023 presidential election. Many political analysts and people on the streets share this view, as well.

Pundits believe that the APC and its leadership including President Muhammadu Buhari himself will never imagine a situation where power will slip off their hands, after being in power for just four years.  The APC group also shares this view.

“The 2023 presidential elections is expected to be very tough because both APC and the PDP will be assessed on the same scale. Our group is determined and is insisting that next vice president of this country should come from the Northeast. We also call on ex-governors and serving senators not to think of vying for the slot, because it is now the time for a young new face; I am making that very clear to you,” Aminu said.

There are many groups popping up in the northeast agitating for the post of the vice president to be zoned to the geopolitical area, but the APC group of 10 is the most powerful and highly organised.  The group’s leaders said  their group will be at the forefront of the quest by northeast to produce the next vice president in 2023, adding that even the youths and many groups in the northwest and north central are clear in their calls for the northeast to produce the next vice president. And, the group will strongly campaign for the southwest as well to produce the next president. “All of us have this very tough and common agenda,” he explained.

The battle in the southwest will be very interesting looking at contenders like Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the many interests in the APC.

There are strong calls within the polity, especially in the north, for the APC to present a new face as its vice presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential elections. How APC plays its cards will determine its success or otherwise.

 

Zayyad I. Muhammad writes from Jimeta, Adamawa state.