2015: No vacancy for Igbos –Abba-Aji
From JAMES OJO, Abuja
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Abba-Aji
Photo: Sun News Publishing
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Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Mohammed Abba-Aji has foreclosed the possibility of an Igbo man being elected as president in 2015. “It is very clear, Vice President Sambo will step in, as soon as Jonathan finishes,” he says in an interview. According to him, the nation needs an Institutional memory in the running of governance, so that the process of governance would not be not-so-smart.

Abba-Aji reminded those championing Igbo presidency in 2015 that the courts have determined that there was zoning, which made the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] agreed to zone the presidency to the South-South, adding that when it returns to the North, the North West would produce the party candidate.
“It’s like this, it goes to the North back and to the South, then to the North and back to the South, then in the South it can go to the South East, South West or South-South .

“In the North, the same applies and so now, Jonathan is serving  the South–South ticket, so then it will come to the North and when it happens,  we  will want the institutional memory to be there, we don’t want  too many dislocation that will set us one step forward, two step backward s and all of that.

“I speak from my own stand point, it is my dream and the Vice President has the experience and he is rightly positioned,” he said.
The president eyes in the National Assembly lambasted Malam Adamu Ciroma over the use of strong words like “we will stop him’, “we will deny him”, noting that such strong words should not be found in the mouth of an elder statesman of Ciroma’s age.
On his part, he said that he had undertaken the crusade of setting things right on the  quiet side and had reached out to very important Northerners in almost every states to tell them that President Goodluck Jonathan will win the April election, incumbency factor or no incumbency factor.

He stated that he had told those working against the president to realize that there was no party that will throw away its product.
“I am a member of the National Caucus. I know what is going on. I said to them, do not allow Jonathan to win without Northern support,  it  will fragment this country, it will disenfranchise the North and it will set the pace in the minds of future southern presidential candidates. The North will seem not to matter which is very dangerous  for people in my generation and for people  below.”

To him, the generations of the Ciromas have had their turn and now, they can afford to gamble.
“What they have been doing is a gambling. That I personally stopped. And they listened to me. Many of them who are open supporters of Atiku saw reasons, I said to them, if you try, you can’t stop Jonathan, you will disenfranchise the north, it is better to support him. We went round the delegates of the North, it worked out and so the next one will also work.”

Are these not the words of a northern bigot?

No sir. Those are the words of a political realist. I give him credit for stopping short at saying zoning as we knew it in the PDP was dead.
Now I am not advocating that whichever groups who wish to have one of their own as President in 2015 to take his statement as gospel truth. We must all be ready to slug it out if we are all interested.

this country is just divided. why don't they just make it official.

There is no zoning again - if Igbo people can contest and win in a national election, so be it. They should not expect other regions and political parties to say it is Igbo's turn. The Jonathan they are supporting endorsed no-zoning - how do they expect any region/party to go back to zoning? No way.

I hav always felt dt my people, d Igbo's, shot demselves on d foot by taking a treacherous and opportunist stand on d zoning issue. Personally I dont support zoning, but neither will i support a treacherous breach of gentleman agreement. What goes round comes around. It will only show d Igbos as foolish and unwise if we should loose out in 2015.