Attai Audu Jos.
A Chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Plateau State, Saleh Mandung Zazzaga, has described some of the leaders and politicians from the North Central geo-political zone now calling for the selection of the running mate to Bola Tinubu from the zone as not proactive.
He called on APC Presidential Candidate Alhaji Ahmed Tinubu to pick the Chairman of Northern Governors Forum Simon Lalong of Plateau state as his running mate..
Zazzaga in an interview with newsmen in Jos on Tuesday, said when every other zone were pushing for the zoning or consideration of their zone for the 2023 presidency, most of the leaders kept quiet and allowed only few of them in the struggle until the two major political parties, the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) picked their Presidential candidates from the South West and the North East respectively.
According to him, APC leaders from the North Central region with like minds had pushed for Presidency to come to the region due to the fact that apart from the military era, since the democratic dispensation, the region hasn’t actually produced either the President or the Vice President, despite their tremendously contribution to the democratic growth in the nation.
“We did all we could to achieve this. First, we kicked against the acceptance of a party’s National Chairmanship position by anyone from the region because it would automatically make another region to be considered for the presidency.
“Yet, many North Central politicians were more interested in the National Chairmanship of the parties rather than the Presidency which was our major quest. We could not eventually pull this through as the two major political parties National Chairmanship position was clinched by politicians from the region.
“And in our effort to achieve our aim of clinching the Presidency, we spent our time and resources but without any support from leaders of the region, but surprisingly, now some of the leaders are now pushing for a running mate to the APC Presidential candidate to be picked from the region. That to me they are not proactive, or should I call it an afterthought?”
He stressed that nevertheless, as people who love the region,” we will not ‘throw the baby out with the bathwater’. So we will join our voice to push for the selection of Tinubu’s running mate from the region, and in our own assessment, the Governor of Plateau State and Chairman Nothern Governors Forum, Simon Lalong, is the ideal person,” he said.
According to him, Lalong is a bridge and peace builder, rational, unbiased and an achiever, adding that Lalong’s ability to be able to coordinate the Northern Governors amid this precarious period of security challenges in the region speaks volume about his quality and ability.
He called on all and sundry to join hands with the electoral body in order to conduct a free, fair and credible election, adding that all the party candidates should urge their supporters to work towards violence-free electoral process.
Oracle Reporters 