A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Osita Okechukwu, has cautioned the African Democratic Congress (ADC) against repeating what he described as the political mistakes that plunged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) into crisis.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja, the former Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON) said the rejection by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of the Tanimu Turaki-led faction of the PDP’s National Working Committee should serve as a strong warning to other political parties.
Okechukwu described INEC’s action as a consequence of long-standing internal violations within the PDP, arguing that such outcomes are inevitable when parties abandon agreed conventions.
He warned that the ADC should not accuse the APC or President Bola Ahmed Tinubu if it faces similar consequences in the future, particularly if it disregards the zoning and rotation principle ahead of the 2027 elections.
According to him, any attempt by the ADC to breach the informal power-rotation agreement—especially by denying the South the opportunity to complete its traditional eight-year tenure in office—would amount to accepting irreversible political consequences.
Okechukwu recalled that he had repeatedly cautioned Ndigbo against placing complete political trust in a single party, referencing events dating back to the 1999 presidential election when the PDP failed to present its founding member and former Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, as its presidential candidate.
He further pointed to subsequent election cycles in 2003, 2007, 2011, and 2019, where similar patterns of exclusion and political miscalculations, in his view, continued to undermine the party.
The APC chieftain expressed concern that the ADC may be following the same path by assuming guaranteed electoral support from the North, describing such expectations as unrealistic.
He questioned the logic behind believing that the northern electorate would automatically deliver millions of votes, stressing that zoning and rotation arrangements were designed to promote fairness, inclusion, and national cohesion.
Okechukwu emphasized that Nigeria’s Fourth Republic is fundamentally anchored on the zoning principle, which he described as a stabilizing factor in a diverse and politically sensitive society.
He warned that abandoning this convention could trigger internal collapse within the ADC, just as it has contributed to the ongoing turmoil within the PDP.
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