As pressure mount on the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) over the party’s zoning arrangement ahead of the 2023 presidential election, National Secretary, John James Akpan Udoedehe, has dismissed the list making the rounds that the party has zoned the 2023 presidential ticket to the South.
The viral zoning arrangement for major national elective offices and for positions in the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) allegedly emanated from the party leadership.
By the arrangement, the presidential ticket is zoned to South, Vice President – North, Senate President – South, Deputy Senate President – North while Speaker – North and Deputy Speaker – South.
For the National Working Committee zoning, the list showed that the north will produce the National Chairman, National Secretary – South, National Treasurer – South, Financial Secretary – North, Legal Officer – North and Welfare Officer – South.
The office of the Auditor is zoned to North, National Youth Leader – South, National Woman Leader – South, Publicity Secretary – South and Persons With Disability PWD Leader – South.
However Akpan Udoedehe disowned the zoning arrangement as fake, stressing that it never emanated from the party.
Akpan Udoedehe blamed the speculated zoning arrangement on party members who may be aspiring for one office or the other, adding that what the party was more concerned about at the moment is collating accurate data on the party’s membership registration.
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"People who are interested in running for one office or the other can speculate. As far as I am concerned, the last Caretaker Committee meeting we had, we did not discussed that.
“That is not what we are concerned with now. What we are concerned with is data collection. How to collect data without making mistake.
“We are not going to be pressurized by sentiment and we do the wrong thing.
"Let me say that zoning is not for the Caretaker Committee alone. It has to do with the President, it has to do with other major stakeholders, it has to do with a lot of people.
“I want to mute the speculation. The list is not from us ( Caretaker Committee). The President is not in town. There is no way such decision will be taking without consulting with the President, consult with the governors and other major stakeholders.
“People should disregard the list. We are focused on delivering our mandate and we are to do it rightly.”