Abati, Oseni fault Atiku over anti-zoning comment, Dele Momodu disagrees

By Matilda Ikediobi

Arise TV anchors, Reuben Abati and Rufai Oseni, have faulted former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over his comment that competence, rather than power rotation, should determine who becomes Nigeria’s next President.

Abati and Oseni spoke on Arise TV’s Morning Show.

They argued that Atiku’s statement was self-serving and did not take account of the country’s social and political complexities.

Oseni said: “Alhaji Atiku Abubakar should stop being hypocritical. I beg in the name of God. The first time we ever tried a candidate that tried to bring competency to the ballot was in 1979 elections when Obafemi Awolowo and Philip Umeadi ran. They were two Southerners and they were Christians. The ticket was rebuffed. Till today, if there are two Southerners and Christian-Christian, they will rebuff the ticket. Awolowo was from the South-West, Umeadi was from the South-East. They said they did not have a national spread.

“When I see people talking competence today, were Awolowo and Umeadi not competent enough? Why did they rebuff the ticket then? I like Atiku Abubakar and respect him a lot. However, he says things only when they favour him. Is it not Atiku Abubakar that went to court against former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 to ensure the PDP zoning formula. He was also supported by his associates, MPLF, which went to court.

“In fact, I think in one of the rulings, the court said they couldn’t assume jurisdiction and gave a decision, but acknowledged the fact that PDP had the zoning arrangements. When he was pushing against Jonathan, zoning was not self-defeating. When he left Olusegun Obasanjo in 2007, that Jagaban zoned to the north for him, he ran in that election against Umar Musa Yaradua. At the time, zoning was not bad.

“When they finally got their way in 2015 with the APC, and they said because Jonathan reneged on the term, they were going to punish him, zoning was good then?. When zoning doesn’t favour him, zoning is bad. When zoning favours him, zoning is good. The next argument that they keep making, they say from 2019 to this time, power has gone more to the North. Yes, I accept the argument. Let me give you a counter-argument: From 1960 to this time, the North has ruled between 45 to 47 years. The South ruled for about 18 to 20 years. So should we ask that we want those 20 years back?”

For Abati, he said: “It will be self-defeating and intellectually defeatist to say that the next president must come to the South, and that should work against the interests of President Bola Tinubu. And in his own reckoning, nobody has ever come from the same zone as the president to defeat an incumbent president, and then went ahead to win the election.

“The first question to ask is one: why did he then in 2019, on the platform of the PDP seek to become president of Nigeria, when the late President Buhari was in the saddle? Didn’t he have that wisdom at that time? Second, he says it’s self-defeating and intellectually defeatist. Where is that written in the constitution?

“This whole idea of a rotation is a sign of the underdevelopment of the Nigerian political process.

“I think the answer to that is that we should have a country where the best and the brightest, persons of competence, people of great ability are the ones who become president. This idea of North-South, there should be a sunset clause on it, to say that those who are capable are the persons who should come and run for presidency. And as Dr Kwankwanso pointed out in an interview on Arise News, the young people of Nigeria do not want people on the basis of religion and ethnicity.

“They want persons who are competent and who can provide quality leadership. And Dr Kwankwanso is right. On that score, we should move away from a situation whereby all kinds of flotsam and jetsam of society are the ones who aspire to high office without having the necessary requisite qualifications.

“Number three is the argument by Waziri Adamawa that the North has only had 10 years, the south has had 18 years at the top level since 1999. No, that argument is facetious. It shows a sign of desperation.

“When President Musa Yaradua died, and in 2011, we had that situation where President Jonathan had to complete the term. Now, that completion of the term of President Yaradua that was talked about was in the Constitution. The Constitution says when the principal falls, because it’s a joint ticket, the next person follows.

“Now, it was an unusual situation. It was an accident of history. And I think it is disingenuous to act on that and say, I.am playing North-South politics. It could have happened to a southerner too. If a Southern president were to die in office at any time, we would still say that the Constitution must be followed. For a man who wants a position where he will swear an oath of office to say I am going to defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic, to now turn the same Constitution on its head for selfish reasons is something, in my view, that I think is condemnable.”

Atiku said nothing but the truth — Momodu

Reacting to the comments on Primetime, an Arise TV programme, chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Dele Momodu, said: “Let me say zoning has suddenly become important because politicians now see it as the only credential required to win an election, especially the presidential election. The All Progressives Congress, APC, and Tinubu, know very well that if they don’t drum up this issue of zoning, there is no clear path to victory for them.

“But I’m not going to be bogged into this zoning brouhaha because I have realised that it is a deliberate distraction from the important issues that we should be discussing. I have been watching Arise News from early this morning to this evening, there has been no other debate other than zoning. It’s a distraction. I can say without any fear of contradiction that that is not what we need at this time. Winning an election is about strategy. Those who want zoning have the right.

“I watched your interview with Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, a very brilliant man. I enjoyed it. But the same Kwankwaso told us just about two, three years ago that he would not be able to be a running mate to Peter Obi, and he gave his cogent reasons, one of which was that the part of the country he comes from will not vote for Peter Obi. I know that Peter Obi is targeting the 2031 elections already, so the game has already started. His permutation is that he has to come now and be like a lamb of God who will take away the sins of the earth and to portray himself as a friend of the South so that when it comes to his turn to run, he will be able to point at the fact that, after all, I sacrificed my own time for Peter Obi.

“Well, that’s being clever, but I don’t know. I believe in the God factor. We don’t know who will be here in 2031 or not. I know that he’s being kicked and attacked by his people, even in Kano. I live partly on social media. Just like some of us are being kicked in the South for supporting a Northerner. That is what Tinubu succeeded in doing, dividing Nigeria into North versus South. Instead of us now discussing, we have no electricity, security is nil, and so on and so forth. All we are now talking about is where a man comes from. I think it’s like someone has hypnotised us. We have been jazzed into thinking only about what part of the country you come from.

“Politics is a game of numbers. You can be sanctimonious, you can preach for as long as you want about zoning, but if you are not able to win elections, you are wasting your time. One of the greatest Nigerians that ever lived was Chief Gani Fawehinmi. Brilliant, he went to prison on behalf of all of us so many times, but he could not win an election. What Atiku was saying is very valid. What is the point? If zoning is not in the constitution of Nigeria, and he tried in 2019, he combined with Peter Obi, they did not win. In 2023, Peter Obi ran his own race, but he did not win.

So, you are ready to continue to talk and talk and talk about zoning and losing elections. That’s why he’s telling you that for you to get in or out of that place, you need modern zoning. And since there is nothing in the constitution that says a Northerner cannot run, a Southerner cannot run, it is the decision of the party that matters.

It is the party that will determine which strategy favours it best. You cannot say because you want a southerner to run, therefore, you are ready to take a risk and continue to run the race, and then when tomorrow comes, people will start arguing towards Atiku. In fact, they are already saying it. There is nowhere in the world where the only thing you discuss about elections is where you come from. None.

“Elections don’t run on emotion. Now, if you look at Katsina. In the last election, Atiku had 489,000-plus. Obi had 6,376. Tinubu had 482. And then Kwankwaso, a northerner, had 69,000. So, those who are jubilating already, the election will be over by 12 noon are being very naive and over-cyclistic. 

In Kano, Atiku had 131,716. Obi had 28,511. Tinubu had 511,341 and Kwankwaso had 997,279.

“You can see the pattern. So, I will jump from there and go elsewhere: North-East. In Yobe, Atiku had 198,567. Obi had 2,406 and Tinubu had 151,000. And then Rabi Kwankwaso, a northerner, 18,000. So, let’s get real and get realistic. Atiku knew what he was saying. Atiku had meticulously plotted his way since 1992, 1993. And it is clear from this. If you look at the total, in the North-East, Atiku had 1,741,000. Obi had 315,000. Tinubu had 1,185,000. So, where is the joy and the jubilation for the Obedients who say, now that we have Rabi Kwankwaso, it’s all settled. This is what Atiku is talking about. Truth is bitter.”

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