Ahead of the 2023 presidential election, a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa (Bauchi North) has kicked against zoning of presidential ticket of the party.
Bulkachuwa, who is the chairman senate committee on Foreign Relations argued that rather than zoning, political parties must look for who can likely win for them the presidency in 2023.
The lawmaker who spoke with select journalists on Tuesday in Abuja noted that any Nigerian from any part of the country can aspire from any party, saying that but “the issue is when you localize it to a particular party, the party that will actually want to win and form the next government will look out for the most popular candidate”.
He vehemently disagreed with zoning, stressing “zoning is not the answer. The answer is that the party must look for who can likely win for them the presidency.
“If you just zone for the sake of zoning and then Nigerians don’t come along with you, what does that mean for the party? It means they are heading for defeat. So test for popularity has to be established first then the party will realize that yes, the strategy is good if we field candidate X, Y or A. Zoning is not the principle thing” Bulkachuwa said.
He explained further “You don’t announce in advance where your presidential candidate will come from and in any case, there must be criteria for Presidential aspiration. Any Nigerian from any part of the country can aspire from any party”.
When asked on the increase rate of defections into the APC, he said “I want you first to realize that that nobody is being forced. The party did not use the whip to say people must defect to the Party right? So how can the party be worried about people saying they want to join? It is not the issue. People defect on their own and nobody pays them or attracts the with any inducement.
“They do it on their own conviction, so if you want to find out ask them why they defect from other parties to APC. They will tell you why they do it. But once somebody defects to APC, we welcome him or her. So what is wrong with that? Is it a new thing in Nigeria politics? It is not.
“We are not like the United States where you have Republicans and Democrats from great grandfathers to grandson. We are not like that. In Nigeria, it is acceptable is it not? And there is nothing constitutional that prevents anybody from defecting from one party to another. Some people even jump into one party, defect back into the same party and some even get out and form another party. So is it any cause for concern? he asked.
Bulkachuwa also debunked insinuations that those defecting to the APC are doing so to evade arrest.
“Well, fortunately I am only a legislature, a member of the APC. I am not the Chairman of EFCC or ICPC so how will I know who is corrupt and who is not? And how will I know that those that defect are evading arrest? I wouldn’t know but if you look back, there are some who actually defected and yet they were arrested. So can that defection be the solution or remedy for arrest? Some actually defected and I am sure you know them and they were arrested and arraigned in court, so that argument to me is immaterial” Bulkachuwa added.
