By Ajibola Olarinoye
All over the world, even in the advanced democracies like the United States and Britain, politics is regarded as a game of calculation just as if you were solving complex mathematics like calculus so as to get the required answer.
In the United States for instance, before national elections and conventions; the chieftains of two major political parties ( Republican and Democrat) would sit down, do their calculation to determine who will fly their tickets and the caliber of people to consider for posts during conventions. They don’t just take decisions any how, they would rub minds together and cross fertilize ideas to do the business called political calculation for the sake of the fortune of their politiical parties. They know for sure that failure to do that could spell doom.
On February 21 this year, some observers were taken aback when the news filtered that the ruling All Progressive Congress APC had once again postponed the much touted National Convention scheduled to hold in February indefinitely while the Zonal Congress was postponed to March 26.
Since it lost power to the APC after the 2015 general elections, the People Democratic Party (PDP) has been boasting that they would capture it back in no distant time. They have been matching their words with actions by making different moves and calculations ahead of 2023 general elections having failed to achieve their target in 2019.
As a devout supporter of the All Progressive Congress APC, I don’t want the ruling party to be like the case of sower in the bible who went to enjoy marathon sleep after sowing, instead of devoting time to monitor its progress. When the sower was enjoying the Jonah-styled sleep, enemies took advantage of him to contaminate the seeds with rotten ones.
As the ruling party is making concrete preparation for the convention, one of the thorny issues the party should not throw overboard is zoning. Agreed, in a democratic society, there should be a fair-level playing field for every qualified candidate seeking elective offices, but due to the highly pluralistic nature of Nigeria state, the issue of zoning is a vital ingredient that cannot be jettisoned so that all stakeholders would have sense of belonging.
Speculations are rife that the incumbent national secretary of All Progressives Congress (APC) Caretaker and Extra-ordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), Sen James John Akpanudoedehe is scheming to retain his position in the upcoming national convention with the help of the Chairman of CECPC, Governor Mai Buni. Although, it is still a speculation, but if happens to be true, then it is going to be a silly and ridiculous miscalculation on the part of the ruling party.
If we analyse it properly, Akpanudoedehe, the current scribe is from the South South zone of the country which has just one Governor as a member of the APC; that is Governor Ben Ayade who defected to the party in May last year after having a protracted political feud with the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. I am not saying that South South does not deserve recognition but it is not politically ideal to give a very strategic position such as the post of National Secretary to a zone that has just one Governor out of five states. Since politics largely depends on calculation, threading such a path won’t be a wise decision for APC.
Since the ruling party has purportedly zoned the post of the National Secretary to the South; I want to use this medium to advise them as a staunch supporter of the party to consider South West zone for the post of the national scribe. Apart from the fact that the ruling party currently produces five Governors out of six states in the South West, the zone has been a traditional supporter of the progressive for years.
This position sharply contrasts with South South zone that has been traditionally attached to PDP since 1999. So, going by this simple analysis, APC should do a fair political calculation and strike the balance as regards the strategic position of the National Secretary.
The ruling party should not allow the ambition of one man or a clique of people to make them lose the long and committed patronage of South West as regards the 2023 general elections. A word is enough for the wise.
Ajibola Olarinoye writes from Ikorodu, Lagos State.
