Our zone has potential votes to determine next president, say north-west APC leaders

Leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the north-west say the history of voting during general election shows that the zone has what it takes to determine the next president.

Musa Mailafiya, APC north-west publicity secretary, said this in a statement issued on Saturday.

According to Mailafiya, the north-west APC leaders also asked the party’s zonal officials to remain united ahead of the 2023 elections.

The resolution was said to have been taken at a meeting of zonal officials which was presided over by Salihu Lukman, the party’s national vice-chairman of the zone, in Kaduna.

“The national vice-chairman stated that taking into cognisance Nigeria’s political history, the north-west has been with majority votes and winning it determines who becomes the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in all the democratic elections that took place in this country since the very beginning of the process,” the statement reads.

“He therefore re-emphasised the party’s full-fledged strategies at the zone in bridging all the existing gaps created by political frictions together, thereby retaining the known glory of the north-west in Nigerian politics.

The development comes hours after leaders of the APC in the south-west held a meeting to strategise on securing the presidential ticket for the region.

The meeting, which held in Lagos on Friday, involved presidential hopefuls and south-west APC leaders.

The APC leaders were said to have cautioned the presidential hopefuls from the region against name-calling, saying all aspirants have a right to contest.

Present at the south-west APC meeting included Bisi Akande, former interim chairman of the party; Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; Segun Osoba, former Ogun governor; and Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos.

Governors of south-west states on the APC platform also attended the Friday meeting.