Adeyeye: Northerners Will Reject Atiku For Violating Zoning Arrangement

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

A former Minister of State for Works, Senator Dayo Adeyeye yesterday observed that the northern electorate would vote against the presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar for violating the zoning arrangement of the PDP.

Adeyeye, a former senator representing Ekiti South, added that politicians and their followers in the North believe in zoning and were always ready to frustrate any arrangement meant to scuttle it.

Adeyeye made the remarks at a news conference he addressed in Abuja yesterday, saying the north moved against whatever plans by any political party to field a northern candidate in the 1999 election in the interest of justice and fair play.

The development, he explained, led to the emergence of two Yoruba men, Olusegun Obasanjo and Olu Falae as presidential candidates of the PDP and the All Progressives Party in the 1999 general elections which was won by the former.

He also said they rejected the attempt by former president Goodluck Jonathan to return to the State House in 2015 because of their belief in rotation since the South had ruled for 14 years then.

He said, “There is an unwritten constitution among the nation’s political leaders that power should rotate between the North and South.

“The reason for this is that we are in a multi ethnic, multi religious society with over 250 ethnic groups. Also the administrative division of the country since amalgamation has been between the North and South.

“There is therefore a great sense in agreeing that power should rotate between the two divides in the country.

“This is what informed the military leaders in 1998 to compel the two main political parties at that time, to pick their candidates from the South, especially from the South West.

“This is because of the perceived injustice against the winner of the 1993 presidential election, the late Chief Moshood Abiola, and the fact that northern military rulers had been ruling after the polls’ annulment.

“The directive led to the emergence of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo of the PDP and Chief Olu Falae (APP) and the election was won by the PDP candidate.”

Adeyeye also explained that Obasanjo ensured that the PDP fielded a northern candidate that would succeed him in 2007 despite the fact that the party paraded very strong candidates from the South. 

He said that was why the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, became President. For Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s untimely death, according to him, he would have been in Power for eight years before the president would rotate to the south.

He said: “By that accident of history however, the reins of power was taken over by Jonathan who was Yar’Adua’s deputy. However, by the time Jonathan wanted to go for a second time in 2015, he was rejected and he lost the election.

Adeyeye insisted that the matter that would decide the winner of the next year’s presidential election is the issue of zoning and not the Muslim Muslim ticket.

He said, “The zoning arrangement which had been violated by the candidate of the PDP would determine the winner of next year’s election and not the same faith ticket. The Muslim Muslim ticket is a distraction caused by the opposition against the candidate of the APC.

“Many Nigerians are not too keen on the Muslim Muslim ticket. What is of the paramount importance to them is that it is about time that power should rotate to the South.”

He faulted the argument of Atiku Abubakar who said the issue of zoning should be a political party affair.

Adeyeye said, “Atiku’s argument does not hold water because when a president emerges from a political party, he becomes the president of the country and not that of his political party.

“Politicians are not more than 10 percent of the population of the country. The entire populace would determine the issue of rotation not the politicians.”

“The PDP elected a northerner as the national chairman in anticipation that Power would rotate to the South after president Buhari but Atiku betrayed Nigerians by contesting.”