By Tony Adibe
A former Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON) and foundation Chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Osita Okechukwu, has commented on the newly formed All Democratic Alliance (ADA), describing it as a welcome development in Nigeria’s political space.
The former VON Director General, however, expressed fear as to whether the new party’s “large appetite for power” would not “becloud their vision and broad mindedness” to accommodate others.
Okechukwu, while speaking to journalists about the formation of ADA in Abuja on Sunday, reiterated that it was a “welcome development” and prayed that the new party be registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) just as the commission registered other parties.
“My take on the formation of All Democratic Alliance (ADA); is that it is a welcome development, one because I am an apostle of the multiparty system, which allows all the flowers to blossom and all the voices to be heard,” he said.
Asked whether INEC will register them, given that they will pose a serious threat to the APC. Okechukwu said he prayed that “INEC will register them relying on the Supreme Court judgement we got when we were in opposition”.
He said that “INEC is independent and should not bother about APC,” adding: Me I thinks sincerely that the ADA, contrary to their promoter’s success mindset, will enhance our party’s victory, especially President Tinubu’s 2nd Term.”
According to Okechukwu, “ADA promoters are benchmarking their strategy on the false premise that the northern electorate are quartered in dormitories and will be hauled to the polling booths to vote for would be northern presidential candidate. As if either they forget or deliberately ignored that the northern electorates are one of the most sophisticated electorates in our political landscape.”
On the “village square story” that the north is very angry with Tinubu, the former Director General of VON explained that the “village square story maybe assuming that the major infrastructural development projects of Mr President in both north and south is fluke? And that the geographical development commissions, plus financial autonomy of local government councils are idle talk?”
Okechukwu reminded journalists that recently the ADA promoters flew the kite that by 2027 the south will have presided over Nigeria for 17 years, whilst the north will have presided for only 11 years.
He said that this fraudulent calculation is purely based on conviction bias, especially when we recall that the proper calculation is that the north has presided more years over Nigeria since independence in 1960, than the south.
“That the north has presided over Nigeria more than the south was the premise people of goodwill and patriotic Nigerian politicians considered before instituting the rotation convention that president should rotate from north to south and vice versa in 1999,” he said.
Asked his view if after his permutation the ADA decides to nominate a southerner as presidential candidate, Okechukwu retorted: “Even if they respect the rotation convention and float a southern candidate, one is afraid that their huge appetite for power will becloud their vision and broadmindedness to accommodate folks in the PDP, APGA, NNPP and Labour Party.”
