Atiku In Dilemma, Only Northerner In 2027 Ballot Now Warns NDC, Others To Drop Zoning

Wonders they say shall never end. Former Vice President Artiwa Pubaka has warned opposition parties including the NDC of course to drop the issue of zoning that they should all throw open their tickets to anybody that can compete. As a matter of fact, the reason he left PDP under Gul Jonathan was because of the issue of zoning. He went to court as you can see here. This was published by Vanguard newspapers on December 2, 2010. Zoning, we've been vindicated. Atiku Atiku and his group went to court to challenge Gul Jonathan because he wanted to contest the 2011 presidential election and the court agreed with them that Gul Jonathan must be bound by the rules of the party. Let's just read paragraph 2. Atabu Abuaka reiterated that President Gulog Jonathan's decision to contest the 2011 presidential election would send wrong signals to groups and organizations that painstakingly developed constitutions and ground rules to guide their operations, adding that certainly it would be a contradiction to urge Nigerians to obey the laws of the land when the president has refused to obey the rules of his party. He followed on by saying that the ruling of the court is a victory against majority tyranny and because the PDP's zoning arrangement was derived from the principle that in a heterogeneous country like ours with unequal distribution of populations among the federating ethnic nationalities, an unfettered electoral competition based on one person, one vote will lead to majority tyranny and denial of opportunities to ethnic minorities. So it's a huge surprise that Artika Abbaka who said this about 16 years ago is now today warning political parties not to zone their presidential tickets that they should throw it open to anyone no matter where the person comes from. Atiku said the first and most obvious question is this. How does a southern opposition candidate realistically unseat a sitting southern president? Nigerian political history offers no precedent for such an outcome. No incumbent president has ever been defeated by an opposition challenger from the same geopolitical block. To insist otherwise is to enter the contest already defeated. By 2027, the south would have held presidential power for approximately 18 years in the fourth republic compared to about 10 years for the north. If the south retains power for another four years, that disparity widens even further. It therefore becomes difficult to understand the justice in an argument that seeks to deepen an already existing imbalance under the guise of equity. It is intellectually dishonest for those who enthusiastically supported the southern presidency under Gulo Jonathan in 2011. Despite the not legitimate expectation under the informal zoning arrangement to now suddenly posture as custodians of rotational justice, principles do not become sacred only when they align with personal ambition. The Southeast deserves a sustainable and credible pathway to national leadership, not symbolic tokenism or bespoke arrangements tailored to satisfy one individual's ambition. Defeating an incumbent president requires realism, not romanticism, strategy, not sentiment, honesty, not selective memory. The opposition must decide whether its goal is to make an emotional statement or to actually win power. Oh, Atiqua Baka couldn't resist throwing a jab at Pitoi. He's now taking it very personal. How can he be this arrogant? He can't seriously believe that the destiny of an entire ethnic group can be tied to him one man. No, that's so narrow-minded and not again. This issue of 18 years, 10 years that the south have taken more turns than the north. No, Nigeria didn't start in 1999. Nigeria started in 1960. And we all know the geopolitical zones and regions that have been in power more than the others. Let's even assume that Nigeria started in 1999. The mere fact that a southerner became president first should mean that southerners will be ahead. This is simple. Even northerner won the election in 1999 instead of ambassador northerners will be leading the south. It's very simple. And the reason for this perceived imbalance is simply because yada passed on is a natural event. No one caused it. Also good lord Jonathan becoming the president was him fulfilling the letters of the constitution. That was why southerners came out and mass to back Muhammad Buhari in 2015. They not only understood that it was a turn of the north but also they felt that Muhammad Buhari was more competent than Gul Jonathan. So Artika Baka's argument falls flat. He's just finding a way to justify being on the ticket in 2027. In 2023, he didn't have to write all these long articles to justify being on the ticket because he had a cover in Rabi Guangaso. Rabi Guangquaso also contested in 2023 despite the fact that the northerner Muhammad Buhari was about to leave power after spending nearly 8 years. So this time around, Rabi Guangasudo that provided a cover for him to run in 2023 has now come out to throw his support behind NDC and other political parties that zone their presidential ticket to the south. So Atiwa Baka is standing alone. He's an odd man out. All the political parties have zoned their presidential tickets to the south. So he's trying to justify being on the ticket. It doesn't make any sense since Quanaso made that statement during the national convention of NDC. It's like he threw a huge obstacle into the ambition of Arta Baka in 2027. He can no longer find the reasons to justify being on the ticket. Imagine that even in the north the likes of Kasu will be telling voters, hey, it is the turn of the south. Let's support them so that in 2031 they will support northerners. So people will be looking at art baka as a selfish person as a greedy person who has been contesting for the past how many years more than 30 years he started contesting presidential elections since 1992. So Atiwa Baka is being a straw man here just like a drowning man he will hang down anything to save his life. The most realistic thing for Baka to do now is to throw in the towel. find a particular candidate in the opposition if his ego is not going to allow him to support PTO just support any other southern candidate or maybe swallow the pride and go back to Tunu after all he become from APC to PDP from PDP to ADC now he can go back to APC and make peace with the people he co-ounded the party with yes in preparation for 2031 you can't take it away from him maybe he might still contest in only 31, someone that his family members do not support. His son is in APC and he's trying to convince Nigerians that they should support and buy into his dream of becoming the president of this country. How can anyone trust you when your own son doesn't trust you? So, it is time for a deep reflection. Atabaka should exit the stage. He should retire from active politics on a high note so that he will be remembered as a statesman who supported the opposition to remove the worst government in Nigeria's history. Well, this might be wishful thinking. Those who know Atua Baka very well know how obstinate he can be, especially when it comes to politics. Anyway, they are trying to hang on to anything to justify being in power. The ADC spokesman Balaji Abdullahi also blamed Tinubu in an interview. He blamed Tinubu for registering NDC to use the party to scatter the ADC. That's to put the opposition in disarray. It doesn't make any sense that Baji Abdullahi just a few days ago accused Tinubu of trying to create a one party state. Now he's now accusing the same Tinubu that wants to create a one party state of creating an opposition party. Nigerians wouldn't take them seriously when they make these kind of accusations. How can you accuse one person of two contrary things? They are opposing arguments. Is not physically possible that one man can do two opposing things. So they need to take a look at the mirror. It's time for a deep reflection. It is better for them to follow the trend. That trend is all opposition parties including the ruling party APC have all zoned their presidential tickets to the south. So why is the ADC an odd man out? Just 3 years ago, PDP made the same mistake of giving the ticket to Atua Baka. That's why PDP is no more today. They've lost practically all their governors. Only machining day remains in PDP today. So ADC still wants to make the same mistake that PDP made just 3 years ago. And these are adults young Nigerians are supposed to look up to and emulate. They need to look at themselves and tell themselves the truth. They are the ones that put ADC in disarray. If they made the decision on zoning right from last year or just a few weeks after forming the coalition, all these problems wouldn't have been there. All Nigerian opposition parties will be in ADC. ADC will be where NDC is today. But because of one man's ambition, because they want an 80year-old man to get to power, they have suddenly lost their senses. They suddenly can't differentiate between right or wrong. It makes no sense how adults dance in public. Thanks for watching.