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…. Upbeat On Successful APC National Convention
Two time House of Representatives member for Yagba Federal Constituency, Kogi State, Hon Sunday Karimi has said the zoning of party positions ahead of this weekend’s national convention of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), will not stop and cannot stop the North Central geopolitical zone’s turn to produce the next president of Nigeria.
He expressed confidence that the Convention will be rancour free, produce a new national executives to run the party and put it in a good stead for a resounding victory at the 2023 polls.
Commenting on the divisions amongst governors in the APC ahead of the national convention, Karimi expressed optimism that President Muhammadu Buhari would reunite the governors and other stakeholders, saying the dusts raised between the opposing camps in the party’s rank was all politics.
He said, “you see all that you see happening, it is all politics, by God’s grace the Convention will hold on the 26th and a new national exco will emerge to run the affairs of the party. Whosoever emerges as the National Chairman and those others that emerge for other party positions, every other persons in the party, including the governors, national assembly members, ministers and the president are going to rally round the new exco and the party will become united to face the 2023 election. So it is going to be rancour free. I am optimistic that the Convention will be very successful because at the end of the day, the president will be there to unite the party”.
Speaking on the zoning of the national chairmanship position of the party to the north central, Karimi, a known advocate of the North Central’s turn to produce Nigeria’s next president, said the arrangrment would not stop the north central and indeed Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State from vying for the presidency in the upcoming primaries.
“Don’t forget that this idea of zoning is just an arrangrment that is not backed up by the constitution. The party’s national chairman can still energe from anywhere, after the convention, there must still be primary election and if that happens who says a presidential aspirant from the North Central cannot still pick the ticket and who says Yahaya Bello cannot still be president”.
Karimi a contestant for the Senate seat of Kogi West Senatorial District in 2023 on the platform of the APC explained why he left the PDP in the run up to the 2019 elections describing his former party as an association imbued with impunity and one that stood little chance of ever ruling the country again.
“I left PDP because it is a party of anything goes. No due process. Can you imagine the last time I contested there, I was not even given a chance to participate in the primaries. Seven of us that contested including a sitting House of Representatives member were disqualified so that one candidate can emerge. Is that democracy? PDP is a party imbued with impunity. They will never get to rule this country again “.
Speaking further, he described as self-serving section 84, subsection 12 of the electoral act which stipulated that no political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the Convention or Congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election.
According to him, “The implication of the act is that except a political office holder or public servant resigned from office three months before the commencement of party primaries, he or she, including ministers, commissioners, or other office holders, is not eligible to take part as delegates in primaries of political parties, and therefore cannot be a candidate for elections.
“To me, it is not right to make laws in a way to get some people disadvantaged. The constitution says that if you are a public servant, you have to resign 30 days prior to election. The election will take place February next year, so the constitution envisages that as a public servant you have to resign your appointment sometime in January to be able to participate in election as a contestant. Any laws that you make that will render the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria redundant cannot be justified. The electoral act cannot supersede the constitution”, he said…. Continue reading
