Zoning was not in PDP constitution — Achuzia



By Chioma Gabriel,Deputy Editor

COLONEL Joe Achuzia, was a major actor in Nigerian Civil War and the Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo and a South-South leader of thought. He is vocal on national issues and in this encounter with Saturday Vanguard, he speaks on the recent endorsement of President Jonathan for 2011 by South-South leaders, saying ‘to hell with zoning in  PDP and Federal Character’. Excerpts:

The South-South leaders convened last Monday and gave total support to Jonathan to contest 2011 presidential elections.
Yes, we did.

You were there too?

I was and we agreed that he should contest the 2011 election on the platform of the PDP, the political party we all belong to.
You are a member of PDP too?

I’m a founding member of PDP. I didn’t just join the PDP. I was there from the onset alongside Dr. Alex Ekwueme and other founding members.

In other words, you understand the controversy of zoning, whether PDP has a zoning policy or not?

I don’t know of any zoning in PDP. I was in Jos, Plateau State from the very first national  convention of the party. I was at the first primaries of PDP because I was managing a candidate who wanted to contest Presidential election. Philip Asiodu was an aspirant and there were many others including Abubakar Rimi who wanted to run for President.

Everybody was given the room to lobby for it and we lobbied. It was the high powered lobby that produced Obasanjo as the Presidential candidate of PDP. Nothing like zoning was mentioned during the primaries and it was not in our constitution. You can ask Okwesilieze Nwodo because he was the national  Executive Secretary of  PDP and knows about these things.

He took the minutes of everything that was said. Zoning was not in out constitution or in black and white so to say. There was no zoning in PDP. I was there and I managed a candidate and that issue never came up. I don’t know at which point it became a policy of the PDP.

Besides, zoning creates room for underdevelopment. The best are not considered in a zoning arrangement.

But several references have been made to Article 7, subsection 2(C) of the PDP constitution.

Achuzia, Zoning was not in PDP constitution

Like I said, there was nothing like that in the party constitution at the beginning. What was meant by zoning wasn’t the way they were talking about it now. The most alarming part of it is that this issue is practically a PDP affair and not a national issue. There are so many political parties in Nigeria and they don’t have the same constitution.

I don’t see why because of Jonathan’s interest, zoning all of a sudden became a national issue. Zoning was first mentioned during the time of a former head of state that died when he was confronted to change the constitution. This was as a result of the North having everything at that time, every position was going to the North and so, the South-South demanded for zoning then as a means of equalising things.

But it was rejected and after the rejection, they finally agreed on this six geo-political zones  arrangement. So, the zonal arrangement is for the purpose of bringing certain groups including the minorities into the scheme of things.

It was revealed that PDP has always had zoning since 2001 in their constitution?

This was after Obasanjo became President but even then, it was not written. So, all the hullabaloo about zoning heats up the polity for nothing.

Don’t you foresee a situation where this will cause problem in the future?

Then, let them call a national conference of ethnic groups that make up Nigeria so that this will be debated on and resolved so it will get into the Nigerian Constitution. Every party has the right to put into its constitution what it wants. Some political parties don’t even have the strength to control one state, talk less of 36 states. A political party constitution is not something that will derail the peaceful existence of Nigeria.

So, you don’t think Jonathan is being misled to contest elections next year?

Jonathan has the constitutional right to vie for an election. It’s also everybody’s right. What PDP is doing is an in-house arrangement. It is not the constitution of Nigeria.

But it is believed PDP will produce the next president and that is what the noise is about.

If they believe PDP will produce the next president, what is the point of the other parties? Then, let everybody join PDP instead of talking from the sidelines because zoning is only within the PDP.

There have been speculations that INEC would de-register weak parties and Nigeria may eventually opt for a two-party system.
Look, INEC will only register what the constitution authorises it to. It cannot just wake up and say that there will be only one party. It’s what the constitution says that INEC will do.

So, the South-South endorses President Jonathan?

As far as I’m concerned, Jonathan should go on. If I were Jonathan, I will go on. If I fail in the end, so be it but it is better to try and fail than not to try at all. If you remember what Awolowo said, if  he becomes president for one day, it is something. Now, you can imagine being a president for one year or more. Jonathan should not take everything being said about him contesting seriously. Who are the people who are saying it?

So, between Ogbulafor and Nwodo, who should be taken seriously on zoning?

I told you that the only authority on this issue is Nwodo because he was the Executive Secretary of PDP then and took the minutes of the meetings of all discussions held. He was there. He has the records and took all the information. Zoning was not there. It was a later development.

When you look at the 2011 general elections, what do you see?

Knowing the type of person Professor Jega is, I will say it will be a credible election. That’s number one. Secondly there is no election you will carry out in this country where somebody will not claim that he has been cheated. So, consequently, the important thing is to be able to hold the elections and no heads will roll.

What advice do you have for Nigerians as 2011 approaches?

My advice is that Nigerians should not take a fire-fighting approach towards the elections because that’s what I think they are trying to do. They should give Jega opportunity because I don’t see any credible voters register. Any voters register that comes out in six months is just as good as using the old voters’ register. If Nigerians insist in this fire-fighting approach, they should be able to accept whatever comes with it.

If Jonathan wins or anybody wins, that person cannot stay more than four-to-eight years.

I want to make an observation.

What?

Should the table turn in future, I hope those saying that Jonathan should jettison zoning and contest will not turn around to begin to clamour for zoning?

How? The issue is, if Jonathan goes in and wins, he should put this zoning to rest by calling a national conference. Two things must be removed from our constitution: zoning and federal character. If we want a true democracy, zoning and federal character must go. Federal character was as a result of the North claiming they were behind in education, they were behind in so many things.That was what brought about federal character. Zoning was a cry by the minority that this thing must reach them.

How would you feel if for instance, one of the Northern states where there are only cattle rearers and shepherds has its turn to produce the President should zoning continue? How would it look if a cattle rearer becomes the president one day when there are educated people around?

So, that is your point of argument?

Yes it is. I’m not saying the Northerners are not educated but what I’m saying is that only those who are qualified should occupy certain positions. This is politics and it is a game. Even in political education, they will tell you that not everybody is capable of leadership.

Those who are capable of governance should go for it, not those who are not but who get forced into it as a result of zoning and federal character.

Federal character  or zoning doesn’t favour anybody except the under-developed. A developed community wouldn’t mind who comes out as long as he is qualified to rule. We don’t need zoning. We don’t need federal character.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/07/31/zoning-was-not-in-pdp-constitution-%E2%80%94-achuzia/

Achuzia spoke my mind, but Nigerians (especially northerners) have twisted expectations from the rest of us.
Now they want zoning to be respected, but use federal character to impose the least qualified Nigerians on us.

[size=14pt]Let the best guy (by qualification and capability) get the job. ALL JOBS![/size]

We can do affirmative action, which normally represents about 10% of a developed country's man-power.

Nigeria is upside down. Our warped type of affirmative action gives 90% of the jobs to the least qualified.

Our kidnappers are being cheated by the system, hence they use their brains to terrorize the rest of us.

This cheating must end. Today.